From August 20 through 31, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) held its General Assembly, a meeting of the global astronomical community, in Beijing, China. The Joint ALMA Observatory set up a booth to make the progress of the ALMA project known to the astronomers from all over the world in cooperation with the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ), European Southern Observatory (ESO), and the National Radio Astronomy Observatory. At the booth, people asked various questions, such as “how many antennas have been installed at the AOS?” “What observation will become possible in the next phase?” etc. These enthusiastic questions made us aware of growing interest and expectation for ALMA among astronomical community worldwide.

At the booth, ALMA antenna and antenna transporter models made of LEGO® attracted visitors’ attention. These models were created by students at the Universidad Tecnica Federico Santa Maria in Chile as part of the computer software education program supported by the Joint ALMA Observatory. These models are computer-controllable; people can rotate the antenna and drive the transporter like the actual ALMA antenna and transporter. You can find photos and further information of LEGO ALMA on
the Joint ALMA website.

The picture below shows Masaaki Hiramatsu (EPO Officer at the NAOJ Chile Observatory) explaining the ALMA Telescope to a visitor.