<p>No one travels to ALMA to observe; the observations are all carried out by staff working at the Operations Support Facility. (This is at an altitude of 2900 meters; the actual telescopes are 28 km away at the Array Operations Site, which is at an altitude of 5000 meters and is not permanently staffed.) Any "unusual/non-standard observations" would have to be specified in advance and encoded into the Scheduling Blocks (prepared files specifying the observations you want).</p>

<p><a href="https://almascience.nrao.edu/about-alma/alma-site" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://almascience.nrao.edu/about-alma/alma-site</a></p>

<p>I believe the staff at the Operations Support Facility stays in the <a href="https://www.eso.org/public/teles-instr/alma/residencia/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Residencia</a>. (More pictures <a href="https://www.eso.org/public/images/archive/search/?ranking=0&amp;fov=0&amp;release_id=&amp;minimum_size=0&amp;description=&amp;published_until_year=0&amp;published_until_month=0&amp;title=&amp;subject_name=ALMA+Residencia&amp;credit=&amp;published_until_day=0&amp;published_since_day=0&amp;published_since_month=0&amp;id=&amp;published_since_year=0" rel="nofollow noreferrer">here</a> and <a href="http://www.kouvo-partanen.fi/alma_e.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">here</a>; pictures of the OSF, including the telescope control room, can be found <a href="https://www.almaobservatory.org/en/images-tags/osf-en/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">here</a>.) </p>

<p>(I wonder if some future movie will film scenes there, as the James Bond movie <em>Quantum of Solace</em> did at the Paranal Observatory's Residencia in 2008...)</p>

<p>Visitors (who cannot stay overnight) are permitted on Saturdays and Sundays, though you have <a href="https://www.almaobservatory.org/en/outreach/alma-observatory-public-visits/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">reserve your visit in advance</a>.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-04-27T23:43:09.623Z
Thank you for your clear and well-sourced answer! Your "...and [here](http://www.kouvo-partanen.fi/alma_e.html)" link says "ALMA ATACAMA HOTEL RESIDENCE FOR **SCIENTISTS** ...providing 120 accommodation rooms **for astronomers** and staff from 20 countries..." Maybe it's poor wording, but is it certain that those scientists and astronomers are never observers?
uhoh
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-04-28T10:17:42.743Z
I think phiteros has already explained things very well in their comments. In the case of proposing to observe with the Very Large Telescope (ESO's flagship optical telescope, also in Chile), there is a place in the form where you can specify whether you requires service observations or "visitor mode" (i.e., you will travel to the telescope for the observations). As far as I can tell, there's no such provision in ALMA proposals.
Peter Erwin
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-04-28T10:20:38.707Z
okay then, thank you again.
uhoh
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-04-27T20:59:09.503Z
2019-04-27T20:59:09.503Z
Peter Erwin
<p>These days with high speed internet, observational astronomy can be done from remote locations. Still I believe from time to time an experimenter might travel to work on-site for particularly challenging or unusual/non-standard observations, where working closely with the instrument support team is necessary.</p>

<p>When astronomers travel to the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atacama_Large_Millimeter_Array" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Atacama Large Millimeter Array</a> or ALMA:</p>

<ol>
<li>Where do they live?</li>
<li>Where do they work during observing sessions?</li>
</ol>

<p>Representative photos would be <em>greatly appreciated!</em></p>

<p>I'm guessing it looks a little different than this:</p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/ehMXJ.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/ehMXJ.jpg" alt="The WSRT telescope RT5 equipped with the APERTIF prototype - cropped"></a></p>

<p>Source: Cropped from <a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/0912.0093" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Apertif - the focal-plane array system for the WSRT</a></p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Figure 2. The WSRT telescope RT5 equipped with the APERTIF prototype. Shown in the inserts is the Vivaldi array in the lab (top right) and in the focal plane of the telescope (bottom right).</p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-04-27T07:18:28.973Z
I've talked with some astronomers who worked on-site there. I think that if they're there for a long stay, they live in a nearby town. If they have to stay on-site, I think that they camp. I could be totally wrong though.
Phiteros
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-04-27T07:30:55.800Z
@Phiteros then my next question will be in [Outdoors SE](https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/) about low-pressure and *low-oxygen* campfire cooking recipes! But I'll hold off on that until this one gets answered. ;-)
uhoh
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-04-27T07:33:32.170Z
I think it also depends on whether they're with a big project, like ALMA or a small one that doesn't have as much money.
Phiteros
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-04-27T07:40:43.150Z
@Phiteros https://i.sstatic.net/taq8J.png (from [here](https://www.almaobservatory.org/en/outreach/alma-site-visit-media/))
uhoh
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-04-27T13:01:59.403Z
@uhoh do these questions signify that you'll be visiting a high altitude observatory in the near future?
Ingolifs
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-04-27T13:06:20.000Z
@Ingolifs that's been my dream for years, but alas no plans to do so in the foreseeable future, except via google street view etc. ;-)
uhoh
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-04-28T02:45:13.270Z
@Phiteros do the people you've talked to agree that [No one travels to ALMA to observe...](https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/a/31668/7982)?
uhoh
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-04-28T05:11:22.603Z
Generally yeah. I mean, people don't even travel to the VLA or Green Bank to observe. You schedule your observations online and they're carried out by the resident staff.
Phiteros
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-04-28T05:19:21.930Z
@Phiteros yep, "generally" is my first sentence. But my interest is "from time to time" or "ever?"
uhoh
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-04-28T05:33:00.027Z
Well, from my experience, even if you were on-site, you wouldn't actually be able to do anything. To schedule an observation, you submit a document which details what coordinates you wish to observe in which bands at which times. It gets put into a queue which is automatically generated based on when your sources are in the sky, and what other observations are requested. Then the telescope carries out the observations under the guidance of an operator. The operator's job is mostly to make sure nothing goes wrong and to log what the weather is, so that you know what data might be bad.
Phiteros
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-04-28T05:35:11.927Z
And after the observations, you wouldn't even be able to use your data because it would still need to be run through the correlator (in the case of an interferometer). When I had a project which involved using the VLBA, our data was available a few weeks after the observations were completed. The hard drives had to be shipped to Socorro to be run through the correlator, then our data was uploaded to the server.
Phiteros
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-04-28T05:48:49.267Z
@Phiteros this is really valuable perspective, thanks! ALMA is so big and time so valuable that it's run very differently than a small optical or radio observatory. Can you consider writing this up as a supplementary answer?
uhoh
<observational-astronomy><radio-astronomy><observatory>
Where do local users of ALMA live and work?
uhoh
# Where do local users of ALMA live and work?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-04-27)

These days with high speed internet, observational astronomy can be done from remote locations. Still I believe from time to time an experimenter might travel to work on-site for particularly challenging or unusual/non-standard observations, where working closely with the instrument support team is necessary.

When astronomers travel to the [Atacama Large Millimeter Array](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atacama_Large_Millimeter_Array) or ALMA:

1. Where do they live?
2. Where do they work during observing sessions?

Representative photos would be *greatly appreciated!*

I'm guessing it looks a little different than this:

[![The WSRT telescope RT5 equipped with the APERTIF prototype - cropped](https://i.sstatic.net/ehMXJ.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/ehMXJ.jpg)

Source: Cropped from [Apertif - the focal-plane array system for the WSRT](https://arxiv.org/abs/0912.0093)

> Figure 2. The WSRT telescope RT5 equipped with the APERTIF prototype. Shown in the inserts is the Vivaldi array in the lab (top right) and in the focal plane of the telescope (bottom right).

**Tags:** observational-astronomy, radio-astronomy, observatory

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: I've talked with some astronomers who worked on-site there. I think that if they're there for a long stay, they live in a nearby town. If they have to stay on-site, I think that they camp. I could be totally wrong though.  
> **username_0**: @username_1 then my next question will be in [Outdoors SE](https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/) about low-pressure and *low-oxygen* campfire cooking recipes! But I'll hold off on that until this one gets answered. ;-)  
> **username_1**: I think it also depends on whether they're with a big project, like ALMA or a small one that doesn't have as much money.  
> **username_0**: @username_1 https://i.sstatic.net/taq8J.png (from [here](https://www.almaobservatory.org/en/outreach/alma-site-visit-media/))  
> **username_2**: @username_0 do these questions signify that you'll be visiting a high altitude observatory in the near future?  
> **username_0**: @username_2 that's been my dream for years, but alas no plans to do so in the foreseeable future, except via google street view etc. ;-)  
> **username_0**: @username_1 do the people you've talked to agree that [No one travels to ALMA to observe...](https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/a/31668/7982)?  
> **username_1**: Generally yeah. I mean, people don't even travel to the VLA or Green Bank to observe. You schedule your observations online and they're carried out by the resident staff.  
> **username_0**: @username_1 yep, "generally" is my first sentence. But my interest is "from time to time" or "ever?"  
> **username_1**: Well, from my experience, even if you were on-site, you wouldn't actually be able to do anything. To schedule an observation, you submit a document which details what coordinates you wish to observe in which bands at which times. It gets put into a queue which is automatically generated based on when your sources are in the sky, and what other observations are requested. Then the telescope carries out the observations under the guidance of an operator. The operator's job is mostly to make sure nothing goes wrong and to log what the weather is, so that you know what data might be bad.  
> **username_1**: And after the observations, you wouldn't even be able to use your data because it would still need to be run through the correlator (in the case of an interferometer). When I had a project which involved using the VLBA, our data was available a few weeks after the observations were completed. The hard drives had to be shipped to Socorro to be run through the correlator, then our data was uploaded to the server.  
> **username_0**: @username_1 this is really valuable perspective, thanks! ALMA is so big and time so valuable that it's run very differently than a small optical or radio observatory. Can you consider writing this up as a supplementary answer?  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2019-04-27. Score: 1 | Accepted answer

No one travels to ALMA to observe; the observations are all carried out by staff working at the Operations Support Facility. (This is at an altitude of 2900 meters; the actual telescopes are 28 km away at the Array Operations Site, which is at an altitude of 5000 meters and is not permanently staffed.) Any "unusual/non-standard observations" would have to be specified in advance and encoded into the Scheduling Blocks (prepared files specifying the observations you want).

<https://almascience.nrao.edu/about-alma/alma-site>

I believe the staff at the Operations Support Facility stays in the [Residencia](https://www.eso.org/public/teles-instr/alma/residencia/). (More pictures [here](https://www.eso.org/public/images/archive/search/?ranking=0&fov=0&release_id=&minimum_size=0&description=&published_until_year=0&published_until_month=0&title=&subject_name=ALMA+Residencia&credit=&published_until_day=0&published_since_day=0&published_since_month=0&id=&published_since_year=0) and [here](http://www.kouvo-partanen.fi/alma_e.html); pictures of the OSF, including the telescope control room, can be found [here](https://www.almaobservatory.org/en/images-tags/osf-en/).)

(I wonder if some future movie will film scenes there, as the James Bond movie *Quantum of Solace* did at the Paranal Observatory's Residencia in 2008...)

Visitors (who cannot stay overnight) are permitted on Saturdays and Sundays, though you have [reserve your visit in advance](https://www.almaobservatory.org/en/outreach/alma-observatory-public-visits/).

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Thank you for your clear and well-sourced answer! Your "...and [here](http://www.kouvo-partanen.fi/alma_e.html)" link says "ALMA ATACAMA HOTEL RESIDENCE FOR **SCIENTISTS** ...providing 120 accommodation rooms **for astronomers** and staff from 20 countries..." Maybe it's poor wording, but is it certain that those scientists and astronomers are never observers?  
> **username_3**: I think phiteros has already explained things very well in their comments. In the case of proposing to observe with the Very Large Telescope (ESO's flagship optical telescope, also in Chile), there is a place in the form where you can specify whether you requires service observations or "visitor mode" (i.e., you will travel to the telescope for the observations). As far as I can tell, there's no such provision in ALMA proposals.  
> **username_0**: okay then, thank you again.  

---

