The observatory operates at over 2500 meters above sea level on one of the most extended European high altitude sites, the Plateau de Bure in the French Alps.

The signals received by each antenna are combined by a supercomputer, a so-called correlator, that produces images of outstanding sensitivity and resolution of the astronomical source.

NOEMA functions like a variable-lens camera by changing the configuration of its antennas, allowing scientists to zoom in and out of a cosmic object and observe the tiniest details.

In its most extended configuration, NOEMA shows a 0.1 arc second view at 350 GHz, revealing the nature of the nearest protostellar disks and the sub-kiloparsec scale of star-forming regions of the most distant galaxies.

Its antennas captured for the first time a cavity in one of these disks, a major hint for the existence of a planetary object orbiting the new star and absorbing matter on its trajectory (GG tau, Piétu et al. 2011[3] ).