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VLA, New Mexico, USA.

Very Large Array

Very Large Array (VLA) is a set of giant radio telescopes at the Plains of St. Augustin, a dry lake bed west from Socorro, New Mexico. This astronomic observatory has a nice website of its own, plus an interesting visitor center. I'm not going into scientific and technical details here. While vorking nearby in September 2004, I was surprised to see how beautiful and photogenic VLA was. Which is what this mini-page is about.

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Each antenna is 25 meters (82 feet) in diameter. The data from the antennas is combined electronically to give the resolution of an antenna 36km (22 miles) across, with the sensitivity of a dish 130 meters (422') in diameter.
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Giant trailers move the antennas along three railroad tracks, either spreading them over the Plains for better resolution, or pulling them close for better sensitivity.
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VLA in winter.

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VLA at sunset.

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