The Very Large Array of Radio Telescopes . ... Credit Copyright: VLA , NRAO Explanation: The most photogenic array of radio telescopes in the world has also been one of the most productive. ... 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 . ... An upgrade of the VLA is being planned . ...