The Very Large Array at Moonset
Credit & Copyright: Jeff Hellermann,
NRAO /
AUI /
NSF
Explanation:
An inspirational
sight, these giant dish antennas of the
Karl
G. Jansky
Very Large Array
(VLA) rise above the New Mexico desert at moonset.
Mounted on piers but transportable on railroad tracks to
change the VLAБs configuration, its 27 operating antennas are each
house-sized (25 meters across) and can be
organized into an array
spanning the size of a city (35 kilometers).
A prolific radio astronomy workhorse, the VLA has been
used to discover water on
planet Mercury,
radio-bright coronae around stars,
micro-quasars in our Galaxy,
gravitationally-induced Einstein rings around distant galaxies, and
radio counterparts to cosmologically distant gamma-ray bursts.
Its vast size has allowed astronomers to study the details of
radio galaxies, super-fast cosmic jets, and map the
center of our own Milky Way.
Now 40 years
since its dedication the VLA
has been used in more than 14,000 observing projects and
contributed to more than 500 Ph.D. dissertations.
On October 10, the National Radio Astronomy Observatory will host a day-long
online celebration
of the VLA at 40
featuring virtual tours and presentations on the
history, operations, science, and future of the Very Large Array.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
