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Installation of weather station and
site testing equipment at the CCAT site on Cerro Chajnantor
(18,400 feet elevation) in 2006.
Note that it is possible to drive a truck to the CCAT site!
Photo by George Gull
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CCAT project director Professor Riccardo Giovanelli standing at the CCAT site at 18,400 feet
in April 2010.
Photo by Martha Haynes
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A view looking down from Cerro Toco (17,800 feet) onto the Chajnantor plateau (16,500 feet)
towards the site of the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA). The roads and buildings are part
of the ALMA, a $1.6 billion project being constructed by a global partnership
of countries in North America, Europe and East Asia. CCAT will conduct the wide area
surveys that will discover and catalog dusty objects throughout the universe. ALMA will then
be used to get zoomed-in high resolution images of the most interesting
objects which CCAT discovers.
ALMA will be completed in 2013. See this
link for more info on ALMA.
The CCAT site is on the mountain on the left of the photo
Photo by Martha Haynes
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We have been monitoring the quality of the CCAT
site (how dry, how the atmosphere behaves,
windspeed etc.) since 2006. It is critical for CCAT's ability to view the
distant, dusty universe that the telescope is located as high above the
ground as possible, because water molecules in the atmosphere prevent
the cosmic radiation from getting to the ground.
The CCAT site is the highest, driest site on Earth to which you can drive a truck!
Photo by Martha Haynes
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A view looking down from the CCAT site on Cerro Chajnantor (18,400 feet)
towards the plateau at 16,400 feet.
CCAT will trace the evolution of galaxies from the early universe to the
present day and will probe the regions of star and planet formation in
our Milky Way galaxy. It will be used both as a survey instrument and
for targeted studies of individual objects.
Photo by Martha Haynes
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View from the salt water Laguna Cejar in the Salar de Atacama looking up toward
the base camp (the ALMA Operations Support Facility; the buildings visible partway up) for ALMA at 9,400 feet
with the mountains surrounding the ALMA
site including Cerro Chajnantor in the background.
Photo by Martha Haynes
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CCAT project director Professor Riccardo Giovanelli during a visit
to the CCAT site test equipment
in April 2010.
Photo by Martha Haynes
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View from the salt water Laguna Cejar in the Salar de Atacama looking up toward
the base camp (the ALMA Operations Support Facility; the buildings visible partway up)
for ALMA at 9,400 feet with the mountains surrounding the ALMA
site including Cerro Chajnantor in the background. Zoomed version of previous.
Photo by Martha Haynes
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A view of the Laguna Verde in Bolivia from the CCAT site
in April 2010.
Photo by Martha Haynes
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View of the Valle de la Luna (Valley of the Moon), near the village of
San Pedro de Atacama, at sunrise in April 2010
Photo by Martha Haynes
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The Rio Loa valley oasis, near San Pedro de Atamaca in April 2010
Photo by Martha Haynes
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The Spanish explorer Pedro de Valdivia stayed in this house in the
village of San Pedro de Atacama in 1540.
Photo by Martha Haynes
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