Across the precipice, I can see a volcano spewing sulphurous fumes from its caldera. Under foot, the earth is so dry, not even the hardiest of plants can survive.
And here, 5,300m above sea level, the oxygen is so thin we are halfway to the vacuum of space.
Llano de Chajnantor, a plateau high above the Atacama desert of northern Chile, is the sort of extreme environment where humans really shouldn't venture. But to astronomers, it is prime real estate.
Chajnantor has been chosen as the site for the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (Alma), a major telescope array that aims to illuminate one half of the Universe that has hitherto been shrouded in darkness.
It will be able to observe some of the first galaxies to form after the Big Bang, and catch planets in the act of forming around young stars.
We expect to produce pictures of a comparable resolution to those you are used to seeing from space telescopes," says Alma project director Dr Massimo Tarenghi.
The £472m ($900m) project is overseen by the European Southern Observatory (Eso), which is made up of 12 member states including the UK. When it is completed in 2012, Alma is expected to become the largest antenna array anywhere in the world.
---I find it interesting Complete note here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5253332.stm ---
08-Aug-2006
