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Paper: Status of the Atacama Large Millimeter Array
Volume: 344, The Cool Universe: Observing Cosmic Dawn
Page: 232
Authors: Wilson, T.L.; Beasley, A.J.; Wootten, H.A.
Abstract: The Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) is a large international telescope project which will be built over the next decade in northern Chile on a site at 5km elevation. The site provides excellent atmospheric transmission in the millimeter and sub-millimeter wavelength ranges. The project consists of two parts: (1) the 12m Array, composed of sixty-four 12-meter antennas that can be placed on 216 different stations for baselines up to 18km (see Table 1) and (2) the Atacama Compact Array, or ACA, that consists of twelve 7-meter telescopes placed in compact configurations and four 12-meter telescopes for measuring source total power. In addition to high sensitivity, frequency coverage and dynamic range, ALMA will record both interferometric data and the complete source flux density. At the shortest planned wavelength, λ=0.3 mm, and longest baseline, the angular resolution will be 0.″005. The receivers use superconducting (SIS) mixers, to provide the lowest possible receiver noise contribution. At first light, the 6 highest priority receiver bands will be installed (see Table 2), each observing both polarizations with a bandwidth of 8 GHz. In the following, we present the status of the ALMA project as of late 2004.
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