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No. 114 − December 2003 Spectrum of the star HD 37495 observed in the framework of the UVES Paranal Observatory Project (see S. Bagnulo et al., page 10) ALMAALMA GGROUNDBREAKINGROUNDBREAKING CCEREMONYEREMONY MOMENTOUS EVENT took place on 6 November, at the site of the AA ALMA “Operations Support Facility” (OSF), near Chajnantor where the array will be built. About 170 scien- tists and dignitaries from Europe, North America, Japan and Chile attended the groundbreaking ceremony for this global project. The pictures shown here and two of the speeches that were given (those by the ESO Director General and President of Council) tell the story. elescopes and Instrumentation ALMA will be the highest-altitude, full- T time ground-based observatory in the world, at 5,000 metres altitude. Work at this altitude is difficult. To help ensure the safety of the scien- tists and engineers at ALMA, operations The President of Council, Professor P. van der Kruit, energetically breaks the ground for ALMA will be conducted from the OSF, a com- along with Dr. W. Van Citters (NSF, Director of the Division of Astronomical Sciences) and Prof. pound located at a more comfortable M. Tarenghi (ALMA, Director). altitude of 2,900 metres, between the cities of Toconao and San Pedro de Ata- cama, and within relatively easy reach of the array itself. The OSF will also be the base for the construction teams, and the 64 antennas will be assembled here. A number of containers and other facili- ties are already located at the OSF, and it is very reminiscent of the early days of the construction of the VLT. Work on the OSF and on the ALMA site itself will now take place at an accelerated pace, paving the way for the arrival of the first elements of the array. Also, at the Ground breaking ceremony, the new ALMA logo (see facing page) was unveiled. Directions to everywhere from the site of the OSF, where the groundbreaking took place. 2 The Messenger 114 ALMA Ground-breaking Address by PROF. P. VAN DER KRUIT, President of ESO's Council Mrs. Paulina Saball, Undersecretary Astronomy, astrophysics and nuclear always stressed that it was the unex- of the Bienes Nacionales, physics have made it possible for us to pected to look forward to. So will it also Mr. Jorge Molina, Intendente of the understand how the chemical elements be for ALMA. Second Region, were formed. I regard this as one of the In order to build an instrument like Distinguished Ambassadors, greatest accomplishments of science in ALMA we need a site in a very dry cli- Esteemed Authorities, the twentieth century. It is amazing that mate, at a high altitude and with a rela- Dear colleagues, physical science is so powerful to make tively flat area with dimensions of order Ladies and Gentlemen, it possible for us to appreciate our ten kilometres. We have been fortunate origin. that such a unique site is in existence Astronomers study our roots and our here in Chile at Chajnantor. E ARE CHILDREN OF THE UNIVERSE. relation as human beings to the cosmos. After a number of initiatives in various Actually, we are children of But astronomy is an observational continents to start a project to construct WW the universe in a very strict science. We will not understand the uni- a millimetre array, eventually collabora- sense. Look at our bodies. By weight we verse simply by pure thought, but rather tion grew out of this between North are made up for about a quarter or so of we start by looking at it. We presently America (that is, the U.S.A. and Canada) hydrogen. The rest is in other chemical observe in the optical with giant tele- and Europe (the member states of the elements, of which carbon, nitrogen and scopes, such as the VLT, Gemini, Keck, European Southern Observatory and oxygen are the major contributors. In Magellan, etc., some of which are here Spain; ESO states are Belgium, Den- contrast, the Universe, when it was in Chile. We use telescopes in space to mark, France, Germany, Italy, the about three minutes old and sufficiently observe at wavelengths that cannot be Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden, Switzer- cool that atomic nuclei could exist, con- observed from the ground, such as in land and the United Kingdom). Unfortu- sisted for three-quarters of hydrogen the X-ray region and the far infrared. We nately Japan, which was involved in the and one quarter of helium. There was no have built very large radiotelescopes definition of the project, is not taking carbon, no nitrogen, no oxygen or any and we have linked these or have con- part now and the original plan had to be other chemical element except traces of structed arrays, using the same principle scaled down to what we call the “base- lithium and boron. We now know that as ALMA will use. line ALMA”. But we are very hopeful, and the chemical elements that make up In the last few decades, astronomers actually heard very encouraging news most of our bodies were formed by have realized the richness of the millime- the last few days at the ALMA Board, nuclear reactions in heavy stars that live tre and submillimetre spectrum and the that Japan will join us soon to build an for a very short while and blow them- potential for observations there to solve even more powerful ALMA than we are selves up as supernovae and release the the current questions in astrophysics. constructing now. heavy elements into the interstellar gas Therefore millimetre telescopes have I would like to express, also on behalf so that new planets and possibly life can been built, again including one on of the ALMA Board, my gratefulness to: be formed. We are stardust. Chilean soil at La Silla, and arrays have − the visionaries who believed ALMA been constructed in particular in North- was the biggest step astronomy could America, Europe and Japan. These make at the present time and never gave already use the spectral lines that can up to try to convince others; be observed at millimetre wavelengths − the scientists and engineers that to study the chemical composition in believed in it and showed that ALMA is regions of star formation, especially in possible technically and financially; the gas and dust in cool regions. − administrators and politicians that In spite of progress in the twentieth also believed in it and convinced minis- century, such as understanding nucleo- ters and high officials that ALMA should synthesis mentioned above, there are be funded; still fundamental questions left. Some − authorities that solved political and important ones among these are the fol- legal problems; lowing. When and how did galaxies form − and last but not least everyone at and in what way did early star formation whatever level, in whatever capacity and and chemical enrichment take place? from whatever country that contributed How do planets form around young in whatever way to the fact that today we stars? To completely solve all aspects of can formally start the construction of these and other problems we absolutely ALMA. need to be able to observe at millimetre and sub-millimetre wavelengths. A los Chilenos y particularmente a la I myself had the privilege as a gradu- gente de la comuna de San Pedro: ate student in Leiden, the Netherlands, Muchas gracias por su cooperación en to have professor Jan Oort as my thesis este lugar tan único y para permitir el supervisor. This was in the days of com- desarrollo de la astronomía en su territo- pletion of the construction of the rio hermoso. Estamos agradecidos y les Westerbork radiotelescope and he deseamos todo lo mejor. © ESO - December 2003 3 ALMA Ground-breaking Address by CATHERINE CESARSKY, Director General of ESO HIS IS A GREAT DAY FOR ASTRONOMY. est technology available on this planet. We altitude, the desert, the volcanoes, the This is indeed a great day for have come here to construct a unique population in this area, the ancient peo- Chile, for the II Region and for instrument in these pristine surroundings, ples with their unique culture, their histo- San Pedro de Atacama. And well aware that this vast country has a ry. There is the challenge of high techno- this is indeed a great day for all long historical and cultural tradition of logy, the joining of so many antennas and TofT us, a moment to which we have all been ancient peoples. Peoples who have asked the almost magical possibility to combine looking forward with great anticipations. the same fundamental questions about the signals so that at the end a radio This is the real beginning of a joint adven- the Universe and man's place in it, as we image of unequalled penetration and ture. We will be reaching towards the now do. While the incentives and the sharpness is obtained. And then there is stars, searching for the earliest, remotest search remain the same, we may come of course the marvelous science which objects in the Universe, peering beyond closer to the answers with ALMA. ALMA will do, all the way from nearby current horizons into the deep unknown. The Chajnantor plateau is a serene site stars with exoplanets in the making to Here, on Chilean soil, in the great where man can be alone with his complex interstellar molecules and emptiness of the Atacama desert and thoughts. It is in many ways one of the onwards to the earliest and most remote closer to the sky than ground-based most extreme places on this planet and galaxies. astronomers have ever been, we are now nobody who has been up there remains I sense that soon the word ALMA may embarking upon an ambitious exploration unmoved.