page_title: Atacama Large Millimeter Array
section_title: Atacama Compact Array
hierarchical_section_title: Atacama Large Millimeter Array / Project detail / Atacama Compact Array
caption_attribution_description: Atacama Compact Array (ACA) on the ALMA high site at an altitude of 5000 metres in northern Chile. The ACA is a subset of 16 closely separated antennas that will greatly improve ALMA’s ability to study celestial objects with a large angular size, such as molecular clouds and nearby galaxies. The antennas forming the Atacama Compact Array, four 12-metre antennas and twelve 7-metre antennas, were produced and delivered by Japan. In 2013 the Atacama Compact Array was named the Morita Array after Professor Koh-ichiro Morita, a member of the Japanese ALMA team and designer of the ACA, who suddenly passed away on 7 May 2012 in Santiago.
context_page_description: The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array is an astronomical interferometer of 66 radio telescopes in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile, which observe electromagnetic radiation at millimeter and submillimeter wavelengths. The array has been constructed on the 5,000 m elevation Chajnantor plateau - near the Llano de Chajnantor Observatory and the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment. This location was chosen for its high elevation and low humidity, factors which are crucial to reduce noise and decrease signal attenuation due to Earth's atmosphere. ALMA is expected to provide insight on star birth during the early Stelliferous era and detailed imaging of local star and planet formation.
  ALMA is an international partnership among Europe, the United States, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Chile. Costing about US$1.4 billion, it is the most expensive ground-based telescope in operation. ALMA began scientific observations in the second half of 2011 and the first images were released to the press on 3 October 2011. The array has been fully operational since March 2013.
context_section_description: The Atacama Compact Array, ACA, is a subset of 16 closely separated antennas that will greatly improve ALMA's ability to study celestial objects with a large angular size, such as molecular clouds and nearby galaxies. The antennas forming the Atacama Compact Array, four 12-meter antennas and twelve 7-meter antennas, were produced and delivered by Japan. In 2013, the Atacama Compact Array was named the Morita Array after Professor Koh-ichiro Morita, a member of the Japanese ALMA team and designer of the ACA, who died on 7 May 2012 in Santiago.
caption: The Atacama Compact Array
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "Atacama Compact Array (ACA) on the ALMA high site at an altitude of 5000 metres in northern Chile. The ACA is a subset of 16 closely separated antennas that will greatly improve ALMA\u2019s ability to study celestial objects with a large angular size, such as molecular clouds and nearby galaxies. The antennas forming the Atacama Compact Array, four 12-metre antennas and twelve 7-metre antennas, were produced and delivered by Japan. In 2013 the Atacama Compact Array was named the Morita Array after Professor Koh-ichiro Morita, a member of the Japanese ALMA team and designer of the ACA, who suddenly passed away on 7 May 2012 in Santiago."}