A marvel of engineering is located in the Chilean desert, where the astronomers of the station: "Alma", look for clues, about the origins of the universe.
For more than a century, the Atacama Desert in northern Chile has been recognized internationally as a unique and extremely generous resource, in astronomical terms.
Apparently the driest desert in the world may be able to provide something much larger than copper production, because it can also provide clues about the source of life itself and how the universe began.
It should be noted that the construction of the terrestrial astronomical project, had a cost of about $ 1.4 billion, and included capital inflows from: Europe, North America and East Asia.
From the heights of the Chajnantor plateau, a world away from social unrest/riots that has shaken the main urban centers of Chile in the last four months, astronomers collect information thoroughly with the 66 radio telescopes, each weighing more than 100 tons, known as: “Alma”, or: “Atacama Telescope”.
At 5,059 meters above sea level, the view of this group of mobile telescopes, which can be placed at a distance of up to 16 km, surrounded by ominous volcanoes that dominate the vast plains of salt.
Alma is one of humanity's greatest achievements, since it helps us discover mysteries that we could never otherwise know, because it is seeking to understand the structure of the universe.
Last year, Alma played a vital role in providing: "the first image of a black hole," hailed as the beginning of a new era for astronomy.
This is due to its ability to observe invisible light for optical telescopes in the coldest and most hidden parts of the universe, with a resolution up to 10 times higher than the: "Hubble space telescope".
The location of Alma is crucial, since the remoteness, the altitude and the extreme aridity of the desert provide ideal conditions to receive cosmic waves, almost unadulterated by the water vapor that hinders its collection in most other skies of the