Astronomy & Space Science · AST-857
Radio Astronomy, ALMA & Interferometric Arrays: Structures & Vocabulary
A source-linked chapter designed to teach the subject itself, not a generic lesson template.
Chapter map
Follow the actual ideas in this lesson.
The sequence below comes from this topic's published material. Sections expand or contract with the subject instead of forcing every lesson into the same five-step mold.
Structure
Structure of Radio Astronomy, ALMA & Interferometric Arrays
ALMA consists of many movable antennas on Chile's high Chajnantor Plateau observing millimeter and submillimeter wavelengths. An interferometer records correlated electric-field signals between pairs of antennas called baselines, and many baselines sample spatial-frequency information needed to reconstruct an image.
Evidence behind this section3 claims
Radio astronomy measures wavelengths from millimeters to meters that reveal cold molecular gas, synchrotron radiation, pulsars, jets, the CMB, and many sources hidden from optical view.
Chapter review
Assessment still in review.
The chapter is published, but its assessment has not completed the verification and QA pipeline yet. It will appear here after publication.
References & evidence
Source library for this chapter
These are the linked sources supporting the verified claims used throughout the lesson.
- 01About ALMAOpen source ↗
ALMA Observatory
- 02Telescopes TodayOpen source ↗
OpenStax Astronomy 2e
View claim-by-claim traceability3 verified claims
Radio astronomy measures wavelengths from millimeters to meters that reveal cold molecular gas, synchrotron radiation, pulsars, jets, the CMB, and many sources hidden from optical view.
supported · checked Sep 22, 2026Interferometric observations resolve protoplanetary disk rings, molecular clouds, distant galaxies, stellar atmospheres, and horizon-scale structures when very-long-baseline networks are used.
supported · checked Sep 22, 2026The relative arrival phase of a wavefront at separated antennas encodes source direction and structure.
supported · checked Sep 22, 2026