Applications of control Precision timing control for radioastronomy maintaining femtosecond synchronization in the atacama large millimeter array

The Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) (see Figure 1) is an international radio astronomical facility currently under construction in Chile through the collaboration of institutions in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Japan [1]. When completed, the facility will consist of an array of up to 64 12-m parabolic antennas that can detect millimeter and submillimeter wavelength radio waves in the frequency band between 31–950 GHz. The antenna will be located at an elevation of 5,000 m on the Chajnantor plain in the district of San Pedro de Atacama. At these wavelengths, the radio telescope array will be able to reveal the structure of the cold regions of the universe, otherwise dark at visible wavelengths, with unprecedented sensitivity and a resolution of 10 milliarcseconds. This resolution is an order of magnitude better than the Hubble telescope or the very large array operating in New Mexico.