ALMA Proyect, Atacama Large Milimeter Array, will change San pedro de Atacama in to the scientific knowledge of tthe world

No more than 100 kms. of San Pedro, the most distinguished place of the planet, called Cerro Chajnantor, it works in the construction of the radiotelescope more powerfull of the Earth, will count with 64 anthenas of 12 meters diameter each one.

Its estimate that the proyect will be full operatelly in the year 2011, and its cost is more than 555 millions dollar. The delivery of the ground for the construction of the observatory was leaded by the chilean President, Ricardo Lagos, on July the 25th, 2003, at Cerro Chajnantor at an altitud of 5000 meters

The trasnparecy of the sky, the atmospheric estability and the best conditions of observation of the disc and center of our galaxy, the Nubes de Magallanes and the nearby galaxies, was reason enough for the northamerican experts of the National Radio Astronomy Obervatory, decided for Cerro Chajnantor, in the second region chilean altiplano, as the place most distinguished of the planet.

When ALMA Proyect be in operation will aloud to capture images 10 times more detailed than the space telescope Hubble. The mobile anthenas will be distributes in an area of 14 kilometers wide. The combination of the 64 anthenas will be used to collect signals of the space bodies, increasing more than 40 times the present available capacity.

To process and work accurate that the electronic equipment complex required, comunications and hydraulics, also will be used one of the most modern computers with a capacity to data process of 16 thousand millions of operations by second.

Is not an optic telescope, it is based on radio waves. If an analogy can be done, ALMA will be able to recognize a coin of one hundred pesos more than 120 kilometeres distance.

It will be aloud to the best astronomer of the world to observe the origin of the galaxies, thank to powerfull radio waves in a system that it looks like a time machine, it will be able to be nearby to the horizon of the universe.