Plateau de Bure Interferometer


The Plateau de Bure Interferometer is a ten-antenna interferometer on the Pic de Bure in the French Alps, operated by the Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique. It is specifically designed for millimetre-wave observations and specialises in studies of line emission from molecular gas and radio continuum of cold dust.
The interferometer consists of currently ten antennas with a diameter of 15 m each. These antennas can be placed in a T-shaped pattern, with North–South track of 368 m and an East–West track of 768 m. There are 32 stations along these tracks where the antennas can be positioned. Observing bands are at 3, 2, 1.8 and 0.8 mm.
At an observing wavelength of 3 mm each of these telescopes can resolve two objects 45 arcseconds apart from each other on the sky. In an interferometer, these 45″ are actually the size of the field of view. So an interferometer like this one images, at very high resolution, structures smaller than 45″.

Aerial tramway

The observatory is serviced by an aerial tramway.

1999 accident

On 1 July 1999 an aerial tramway car fell to the valley floor. All 20 occupants were killed, in one of the worst cable car accidents in recorded history. The majority were employees and contractors of an international astronomical observatory run by the Institut de Radioastronomie Millémétrique.