The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), one of the largest and most sensitive telescopes of its kind in the world, received a visit from United Nations (UN) Secretary-General António Guterres, who had the opportunity to learn about how ALMA’s high-tech systems capture and combine signals from the cosmos. ALMA represents a partnership between Europe (European Southern Observatory), North America (National Radio Astronomy Observatory) and East Asia (National Astronomical Observatory of Japan), along with the Republic of Chile. These nations worked together to create a scientific instrument that none of them could build on their own.

Chile has been called an astronomy paradise, and that’s why ALMA was constructed on the Chajnantor Plateau in the country’s Atacama Desert, one of the highest and driest places on Earth. This position provides a clear view of the southern sky, while atmospheric conditions at the Plateau are ideal for ALMA’s millimeter and submillimeter observations.