VLA Radio Astronomy Observatory

Tuesday, after driving through the refuge and realizing we were a couple of hours late to get good photos, we decided to take in the radio astronomy observatory (Very Large Array) located on the Plains of San Augustin some fifty miles west of Socorro, on New Mexico U. S. Route 60.

We drove through the area several years ago but didn't stop at the information center, which is two miles or so off the main highway. One advantage of dragging our own bedroom around, is, we have plenty of time to stop and smell the roses. This side trip took up most of the afternoon, time we wouldn't have spent if we still had 200 miles to go before the end of the day.

Swiped this view from the NRAO web site: www.vla.nrao.edu/

The sign warns against the danger of snakes.

After taking in the visitors center, we started on the self guided walking tour.

These antennas are not suitable for installation on your roof top.

There are 27 independent radio antennae in the observatory. Each antenna is 82 feet in diameter and weighs 203 tons.

The antenna array is the shape of a Y, with each arm measuring 13 miles long. The antenna are positioned along railroad tracks which follow each of the arms.

The antenna's are moved and positioned with a specially designed lifting locomotive. There are four commonly used configurations;  A, the largest, with a maximum base line of 22.3 miles, through D the tightest, when the dishes are at there closest to the canter point (1968 feet). Normally, the observatory cycles through all possible configurations every 16 months. This limits the effort needed to move two dozen 230-ton highly sensitive scientific instruments to once every three or four months.

Approval for the VLA project received Congressional approval in August of 1972. Construction started some six months later with the first antenna installed in September of 1975. The complex was formally dedicated in 1980; the total investment was $ 78.5 million.

The 1970s technology is being updated; additional funding will convert the VLA into the Expanded Very Large Array. This upgrade enhances the instrument's sensitivity, frequency range, resolution, and will provide new equipment at the San Agustin site. Eight additional dishes, up to 300 km away,  will be constructed in New Mexico and connected to the hub via fiber-0ptic links;

This was a day well spent. So often we tell ourselves, "Oh .. some day, well come back and visit whatever it is we just zoomed past." This time we did.