The Very Large Array Turns Twenty
The most photogenic array of
radio telescopes in the world has also
been one of the most productive.
Each of the 27
radio telescopes in the
Very Large Array (VLA) is the size of a
house and can be moved on train tracks.
The VLA, celebrating its
twentieth year of operation, is
pictured above in a compact formation in front of
Tres Montosas,
New Mexico,
USA.
The VLA has been used to discover
water on planet Mercury,
radio-bright coronae around ordinary stars,
micro-quasars in our Galaxy,
gravitationally-induced Einstein rings around distant galaxies,
and
radio counterparts to cosmologically distant gamma-ray bursts.
The vast size of the
VLA has allowed astronomers to study the
details of super-fast cosmic jets, and even
map the center of our Galaxy.
An upgrade of the VLA is being planned.