VLA Is A Trip to the Stars

July 25, 9:49 PMAlbuquerque UFO Abduction ExaminerRick Smith

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$94 million VLA radio telescope upgrade
could pick up cell phone signal on Jupiter.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is in the process of transforming its Very Large Array radio telescope into the Expanded Very Large Array (EVLA), thanks to digital technology that will boost the Socorro, N.M., facility's already impressive ability to tune in on black holes, supernovae and the rest of the cosmos.

The Very Large Array (VLA), one of the world's premier astronomical radio observatories, consists of 27 radio antennas in a Y-shaped configuration on the Plains of San Agustin fifty miles west of Socorro, New Mexico. 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 feet) in diameter. You can read an overview of the VLA here.

Half of the Very Large Array's (VLA) 27 dish antennas—each weighing 230 tons—have already been upgraded so it can collect eight simultaneous data streams at about two giga- (billion) hertz, up from the previous capability of four data streams at about 50 mega- (million) hertz. The rest of the 27 antennas—which made their debut on the silver screen in the 1997 movie Contact, starring Jodie Foster and based on the eponymous Carl Sagan sci-fi novel—will go digital by 2012, increasing the facility's power 10-fold.

The makeover's increase in power is due largely to the replacement of old cable connections that had been in operation since it was built in the 1970s with newer fiber optic connections traveling underground, connecting all 27 dish antennas with the VLA's Control Room. The EVLA's receiving system will be sensitive enough to detect the weak radio transmission from a cell phone at the distance of Jupiter—half a billion miles away—at a projected cost of $94 million.

Completed in 1980 as part of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), the VLA was behind the discoveries of water ice on Mercury; the complex region surrounding Sagittarius A*, the black hole at the core of the Milky Way galaxy; and it helped astronomers identify a distant galaxy already pumping out stars less than a billion years after the big bang.

The VLA is located 50 miles west of Socorro on U.S. Highway 60. From U.S. 60, turn South on NM 52, then West on the VLA access road, which is well marked. Signs will point you to the Visitor Center.

The Visitor Center is open to the public every day from 8:30 a.m. to dusk with no admission fee. As you enter, a sign will point you toward the theater, a good place to begin your tour. The 9-minute video presentation was produced in 2002. It provides an understandable overview of radio astronomy, interferometry, and the VLA itself. You will then want to explore our exhibits, to learn more about radio astronomy and the role the Very Large Array and other NRAO telescopes play in current research. A 5-minute silent video will show you how the antennas are moved. Another video slide show describes the Very Long Baseline Array and how it works. A Small Radio Telescope located just outside the back window tracks the Sun and produces a crude image.

Near the back door you will find a brochure to guide you in the walking tour that will take you past the Whisper Gallery to the base of one of the 230-ton antennas. From there you will climb up to the observation deck for a view of the array itself, as well as a look at the new prototype antenna we are testing for the ALMA project. The walk returns you to the Visitor Center where you are welcome to browse through our gift shop to take home some souvenirs. The gift shop opens almost every day at 9:00 a.m. and closes at 4:00. If it is closed during your visit you may shop online.

Guided tours are provided twice per year to the general public. NRAO student tours for 2009 are July 11 & 12, 18 & 19, 25 & 26, August 1 & 2 from 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM. All tours leave from the VLA Visitor Center.

For more info, check out these great links:
NRAO Very Large Array
VLA Overview
Guided Tours
Visiting the Very Large Array
Online Giftshop
ALMA Project
VLA Expansion Project (EVLA)
Very Large Array Photos