ALMA: peering into the cool depths of the Universe

This image shows antennas which make up part of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), in a snowy setting. ALMA will be composed initially of 66 high precision antennas located on the Chajnantor plateau, 5000 metres altitude in northern Chile.

ALMA observes light emitted by cool-temperature objects in space, which permits us to unravel profound mysteries about the formation of planets and the appearance of complex molecules, including organic molecules.