exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "In  this photograph one of the two ALMA transporters, Lore, is carrying one  of the 7-metre-diameter antennas of ALMA, the Atacama Large  Millimeter/submillimeter Array. Lore and her twin, Otto, are two bright  yellow 28-wheeled vehicles, custom-built to move ALMA\u2019s antennas around  on the Chajnantor Plateau at an elevation of 5000 metres. By doing this,  they can reconfigure the telescope array to make the most useful  observations of a given target. They also move antennas between  Chajnantor and the lower altitude Operations Support Facility for  maintenance.ALMA  has a main array of fifty 12-metre-diameter antennas, and an additional  array of twelve 7-metre antennas and four 12-metre antennas, known as  the Atacama Compact Array (ACA). Lore is carrying one of the smaller,  7-metre antennas of the ACA. The 12-metre antennas of the main array  cannot be placed closer than 15 metres apart as they would otherwise  bump into each other. This minimum separation between antennas limits  the maximum scale of the features that they can detect in the sky. This  means that the main array cannot observe the broadest features of  extended objects such as giant clouds of molecular gas in the Milky Way,  or nearby galaxies. The ACA is specifically designed to help ALMA make  better observations of these extended objects. Its smaller 7-metre  antennas can be placed closer together, making them better able to  measure the broader structures that the main array misses.The dramatic icy spikes in the foreground are known as penitentes  (Spanish for penitents). These are a curious natural phenomenon found  in high altitude regions, typically more than 4000 metres above sea  level. They are thin blades of hardened snow or ice which point towards  the Sun, attaining heights from a few centimetres up to several metres.ALMA,  an international astronomy facility, is a partnership of Europe, North  America and East Asia in cooperation with the Republic of Chile. ALMA  construction and operations are led on behalf of Europe by ESO, on  behalf of North America by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory  (NRAO), and on behalf of East Asia by the National Astronomical  Observatory of Japan (NAOJ). The Joint ALMA Observatory (JAO) provides  the unified leadership and management of the construction, commissioning  and operation of ALMA. Links  More about ALMA at ESO Joint ALMA Observatory", "Image Artist": "", "Image Copyright": "ESO"}