Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array

Very Large Array
Organisation National Radio Astronomy Observatory
Location(s) Socorro County, United States of America
Coordinates 34°04′43.497″N 107°37′05.819″W / 34.07874917°N 107.61828306°W / 34.07874917; -107.61828306Coordinates: 34°04′43.497″N 107°37′05.819″W / 34.07874917°N 107.61828306°W / 34.07874917; -107.61828306[1]
Wavelength radio, 0.6–410 cm (50 GHz–73 MHz)
Built 1973–1980
Telescope style Interferometer
Diameter 27×25 m
Angular resolution 0.2 to 0.004 arcsec
Collecting area 13,250 m² (f/0.36)
Website www.vla.nrao.edu

The Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) is a radio astronomy observatory located on the Plains of San Agustin, between the towns of Magdalena and Datil, some 50 miles (80 km) west of Socorro, New Mexico. It comprises 27 25-meter radio telescopes in a Y-shaped array and all the equipment, instrumentation, and computing power to function as an interferometer. Each of the massive telescopes is mounted on double parallel railroad tracks, so the radius and density of the array can be transformed to focus on particular bands of wavelength.[2] Astronomers using the VLA have made key observations of black holes and protoplanetary disks around young stars, discovered magnetic filaments and traced complex gas motions at the Milky Way's center, probed the Universe's cosmological parameters, and provided new knowledge about the physical mechanisms that produce radio emission.

The VLA stands at an elevation of 6970 ft (2124 m) above sea level. It is a component of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO).[3]

U.S. Route 60 passes through the complex, which is adjacent to the Boy Scout Double H High Adventure Base.

Characteristics

Antenna Assembly Building at VLA

The radio telescope comprises 27 independent antennae, each of which has a dish diameter of 25 meters (82 feet) and weighs 209 metric tons (230 Short tons).[4] The antennae are distributed along the three arms of a track, shaped in a wye (or Y) -configuration, (each of which measures 21 km/13 miles long). Using the rail tracks that follow each of these arms—and that, at one point, intersect with U.S. Route 60 at a level crossing—and a specially designed lifting locomotive ("Hein's Trein"),[5] the antennas can be physically relocated to a number of prepared positions, allowing aperture synthesis interferometry with up to 351 independent baselines: in essence, the array acts as a single antenna with a variable diameter. The angular resolution that can be reached is between 0.2 and 0.004 arcseconds.[6]

There are four commonly used configurations, designated A (the largest) through D (the tightest, when all the dishes are within 600 m of the center point). The observatory normally cycles through all the various possible configurations (including several hybrids) every 16 months; the antennas are moved every three to four months. Moves to smaller configurations are done in two stages, first shortening the east and west arms and later shortening the north arm. This allows for a short period of improved imaging of extremely northerly or southerly sources.

The frequency coverage is 74 MHz to 50 GHz (400 to 0.7 cm).[1]

The Array Operations Center (AOC) for the VLA is located on the campus of the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology in Socorro, New Mexico. The AOC also currently serves as the control center for the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA), a VLBI array of ten 25-meter dishes located from Hawaii in the west to the U.S. Virgin Islands in the east that constitutes the world's largest dedicated, full-time astronomical instrument.[7]

Upgrade and renaming

Very Large Array, 2012
Very Large Array

In 2011, a decade long upgrade project had resulted in the VLA expanding its technical capacities by factors of as much as 8,000. The 1970s era electronics were replaced with state-of-the-art equipment. To reflect this increased capacity, VLA officials asked for input from both the scientific community and the public in coming up with a new name for the array, and in January 2012 it was announced that the array would be renamed the "Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array".[8][9][10] On March 31, 2012 the VLA was officially renamed in a ceremony inside the Antenna Assembly Building.[11]

Key science

The VLA is a multi-purpose instrument designed to allow investigations of many astronomical objects, including radio galaxies, quasars, pulsars, supernova remnants, gamma ray bursts, radio-emitting stars, the sun and planets, astrophysical masers, black holes, and the hydrogen gas that constitutes a large portion of the Milky Way galaxy as well as external galaxies. In 1989 the VLA was used to receive radio communications from the Voyager 2 spacecraft as it flew by Neptune. It is not, despite depictions in popular culture such as the movie Contact, used to assist in the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI).

Past and future

The driving force for the development of the VLA was David S. Heeschen. He is noted as having "sustained and guided the development of the best radio astronomy observatory in the world for sixteen years."[12] Congressional approval for the VLA project was given in August 1972, and construction began some six months later. The first antenna was put into place in September 1975 and the complex was formally inaugurated in 1980, after a total investment of USD $78.5 million.[1] It was the largest configuration of radio telescopes in the world.

With a view to upgrading the venerable 1970s technology with which the VLA was built, the VLA has evolved into the Expanded Very Large Array (EVLA). The upgrade has enhanced the instrument's sensitivity, frequency range, and resolution with the installation of new hardware at the San Agustin site. A second phase of this upgrade may add up to eight additional dishes in other parts of the state of New Mexico, up to 300 km away, if funded.[13]

In 1995 and 1996, the VLA was used for following up the Wow! signal from the SETI project.[14]

Magdalena Ridge Observatory is a new observatory under construction a few miles South of the VLA includes an optical interferometer and is also run by VLA collaborator New Mexico Tech.

The VLA has appeared repeatedly in American popular culture since its construction.

Visiting

The VLA is located between the towns of Magdalena and Datil, about 50 miles (80 km) west of Socorro, New Mexico. U.S. Route 60 passes east-west through the complex.

The VLA site is open to visitors year round during daylight hours, and on every first Saturday of the month, special guided and behind-the-scenes tours are offered. A visitor center houses a small museum, theater, and a gift shop. A self-guided walking tour is available, as the visitor center is not staffed continuously. Visitors unfamiliar with the area are warned that there is little food on site, or in the sparsely populated surroundings; those unfamiliar with the high desert are warned that the weather is quite variable, and can remain cold into April.[3] For those who cannot travel to the site, the NRAO created a virtual tour of the VLA called the VLA Explorer.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "An Overview of the Very Large Array". vla.nrao.edu. National Radio Astronomy Observatory. Retrieved 2015-03-24.
  2. ↑ http://www.vla.nrao.edu
  3. 1 2 "Visit the VLA". public.nrao.edu. National Radio Astronomy Observatory. Retrieved 2015-03-24.
  4. ↑ "Welcome to the Very Large Array!". vla.nrao.edu. National Radio Astronomy Observatory. Retrieved 2015-03-24.
  5. ↑ Holley, Joe (May 29, 2008). "Hein Hvatum, 85; Engineered Telescope to the Heavens". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2015-03-24.
  6. ↑ https://public.nrao.edu/telescopes/vla/vla-basics
  7. ↑ "Very Long Baseline Array". science.nrao.edu. National Radio Astronomy Observatory. Retrieved 2015-03-24.
  8. ↑ Associated Press (October 14, 2011). "New Mexico Radio Telescope Seeking New Name". ABC News. Archived from the original on 2011-10-16.
  9. ↑ Palmer, Jason (October 15, 2011). "Very Large Array telescope in public call for new name". BBC News. Retrieved 2015-03-24.
  10. ↑ Finley, Dave. "Iconic Telescope Renamed to Honor Founder of Radio Astronomy". NRAO.edu. National Radio Astronomy Observatory. Retrieved 2015-03-24.
  11. ↑ Finley, Dave. "Famous Radio Telescope Officially Gets New Name". NRAO.edu. National Radio Astronomy Observatory. Retrieved 2015-03-24.
  12. ↑ Tucker, Wallace; Tucker, Karen (1986). The Cosmic Inquirers: Modern Telescopes and Their Makers. Harvard University Press. ISBN 0674174356.
  13. ↑ "The Expanded Very Large Array Project: A Radio Telescope to Resolve Cosmic Evolution". aoc.nrao.edu. National Radio Astronomy Observatory. Retrieved 2015-03-24.
  14. ↑ Gray, Robert H. (2012). The Elusive WOW: Searching for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. Chicago: Palmer Square Press. ISBN 978-0-9839584-4-4.
  15. 1 2 3 Howard Hughes (30 May 2014). Outer Limits: The Filmgoers' Guide to the Great Science-fiction Films. I.B.Tauris. pp. 91–. ISBN 978-1-78076-166-4.
  16. ↑ Guidebook for the Scientific Traveler. Rutgers University Press. pp. 86–. ISBN 978-0-8135-4918-7.
  17. ↑ Robinson, Walter (November 11, 2007). "Weekend Update". Artnet.com. Artnet Worldwide Corporation. Retrieved 2015-03-24.
  18. ↑ Joseph T. Page II (6 May 2013). New Mexico Space Trail. Arcadia Publishing. pp. 59–. ISBN 978-1-4396-4328-0.
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