Atacama Submillimeter Telescope Experiment

The Atacama Submillimeter Telescope Experiment (ASTE) is a 10m antenna built by Mitsubishi Electric as a preprototype for ALMA.

The ASTE was deployed to its site on Pampa La Bola, near Cerro Chajnantor and the Llano de Chajnantor Observatory in northern Chile. The antenna shows excellent performance including a surface accuracy of 19 μm (0.00075 in) r.m.s. The telescope is remotely controllable from multiple sites through satellite connections and the Internet. It is operated by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan and the University of Tokyo, Nagoya University, and Osaka Prefecture University, in cooperation with the Universidad de Chile.