The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) is one of the largest radio telescopes and is located at 5;000 m altitude in the Atacama desert in Chile. Its unprecedented sensitivity at extremely high angular and spectral resolution in the (sub-)millimetre wavelength regime, allows for countless advances in astrophysics. One of the areas in which ALMA can make unique contributions, is in that of the study of astrophysical magnetic fields. ALMA is expected to map the magnetic field geometry, and in some cases strength, in a large number of star forming regions, around evolved stars and planetary nebulae, and in nearby galaxies. This chapter provides examples of the amount of improvement ALMA offers the study of magnetic fields based on the current state-of-the-art and shortly introduces new tools that will be available to analyse (sub-)millimetre polarimetric observations.
The Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter ArrayThe Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) is a large international (sub-)millimeter-wavelength radio telescope array in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. It consists of a total of 66 antennas operating in the wavelength range from 0:4 to 4 mm. Because of its unmatched sensitivity at very high spectral and spatial resolution, ALMA provides new insights into many astrophysical topics, from the formation of stars and planets to the evolution of the most distant galaxies. As ALMA is able to observe in full polarization mode, it can also reveal the magnetic field with a sensitivity and resolution that has not previously been possible.ALMA is a partnership between Europe, North America (USA and Canada) and East Asia (Japan and Taiwan) in cooperation with the Republic of Chile. The ALMA project is coordinated by the Joint ALMA Office based in Santiago de Chile. The ALMA observatory is operated from the Operation Support Facility (OSF), which is situated at 2,900 m altitude. The array itself and the correlator are located at the W. Vlemmings ( )