View source for Very Large Array

{{Short description|Radio astronomy observatory in New Mexico, US}}
{{Use American English|date=August 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox telescope
| map_caption = Location of the Very Large Array
}}
[[File:Plant ecologies on site.jpg|thumb|One of the 28 radio telescopes, seen here undergoing maintenance in "The Barn"<ref>{{cite web |title= VLA Antennas and The Barn |website= NRAO Gallery |publisher= [[NRAO]] |url= https://public.nrao.edu/gallery/vla-antennas-and-the-barn/ |access-date= 19 May 2020 }}</ref>]]
The '''Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array''' ('''VLA''') is a centimeter-wavelength [[radio astronomy]] observatory in the southwestern United States built in the 1970s. It lies in central [[New Mexico]] on the [[Plains of San Agustin]], between the towns of [[Magdalena, New Mexico|Magdalena]] and [[Datil, New Mexico|Datil]], approximately {{convert|50|mi|km|0|sp=us}} west of [[Socorro, New Mexico|Socorro]]. The VLA comprises 28 {{convert|25|m|adj=on|sp=us}} radio telescopes (27 of which are operational while one is always rotating through maintenance) deployed in a Y-shaped array and all the equipment, instrumentation, and computing power to function as an [[astronomical interferometer|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 adjust the balance between its angular resolution and its surface brightness sensitivity.<ref name="WelcomeVLA">{{Cite web |title= Welcome to the Very Large Array |website= VLA |publisher= [[NRAO]] |url=http://www.vla.nrao.edu }}</ref> Astronomers using the VLA have made key observations of [[black hole]]s and [[protoplanetary disk]]s around [[Stellar age estimation|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 wave|radio emission]].

The VLA stands at an elevation of {{convert|6970|ft|m|sp=us}} above sea level. It is a component of the [[National Radio Astronomy Observatory]] (NRAO).<ref name="visit">{{cite web |title= Visit the VLA |work= Visit NRAO |url=https://public.nrao.edu/visit/very-large-array/ |access-date= 2025-11-07 }}</ref> The NRAO is a facility of the [[National Science Foundation]] operated under cooperative agreement by [[Associated Universities, Inc.|Associated Universities, Inc]].

== Characteristics ==
The [[radio telescope]] comprises 27 independent antennas in use at a given time plus one spare, each of which has a dish diameter of {{convert|25|m|ft|abbr=off|sp=us}} and weighs {{convert|209|MT|ST|lk=on|sp=us}}.<ref name="WelcomeVLA"/> The antennas are distributed along the three arms of a track, shaped in a wye (or Y-shaped) configuration, each of arm measuring {{convert|21|km|sp=us}} long. Using the rail tracks that follow each of these arms—and that, at one point, intersect with [[U.S. Route 60 in New Mexico|U.S. Route 60]] at a level crossing—and a specially designed lifting locomotive ("Hein's Trein"),<ref>{{cite news |first=Joe |last=Holley |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/28/AR2008052803211.html |title=Hein Hvatum, 85; Engineered Telescope to the Heavens |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=May 29, 2008 |access-date=2015-03-24}}</ref> 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 {{val|0.2|and|0.04|u=[[arcsecond]]s}}.<ref name="specs">{{Cite web |title=Very Large Array |website= NRAO Telescopes |url= https://public.nrao.edu/telescopes/vla/ |access-date= 2025-11-07 }}</ref>

There are four commonly used configurations, designated A (the largest) through D (the tightest, when all the dishes are within {{convert|600|m|sp=us}} 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.<ref>{{Cite web |title= VLA Configurations |publisher= NRAO |url= https://public.nrao.edu/vla-configurations/ |access-date=2023-08-08 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title= Configuration Plans and Proposal Deadlines |website= NRAO Science |url= https://science.nrao.edu/facilities/vla/proposing/configpropdeadlines |access-date= 2023-08-08 }}</ref>

The frequency coverage is {{val|74|u=MHz}} to {{val|50|u=GHz}} ({{val|400|to|0.7|u=cm}}).<ref name="overview">{{cite web |url=http://www.vla.nrao.edu/genpub/overview/ |title=An Overview of the Very Large Array |publisher= NRAO |access-date=2015-03-24}}</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=Source states info is dated, refer to https://www.vla.nrao.edu/genpub/overview/ for newer capabilities.|date=November 2025}}

The Pete V. Domenici Science [[Array Operations Center|Operations Center]] (DSOC) for the VLA is located on the campus of the [[New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology]] in [[Socorro, New Mexico]]. The DSOC also serves as the control center for the [[Very Long Baseline Array]] (VLBA), a [[Very Long Baseline Interferometry|VLBI]] array of ten {{convert|25|m|ft|adj=on|sp=us}} 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.<ref>{{cite web |title= Very Long Baseline Array |website= NRAO Facilities |url= https://science.nrao.edu/facilities/vlba |access-date= 2015-03-24}}</ref>

==Key science==
The VLA is a multi-purpose instrument designed to allow investigations of many astronomical objects, including [[Radio galaxy|radio galaxies]], [[quasar]]s, [[pulsar]]s, [[supernova]] remnants, [[gamma-ray burst]]s, radio-emitting [[star]]s, the [[sun]] and [[planet]]s, [[astrophysical maser]]s, [[black hole]]s, 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]].<ref name="Taylor">{{cite book|editor-last=Taylor|editor-first=Jim|title=Deep Space Communications|date=2016|publisher=John Wiley & Sons | isbn=978-1-119-16902-4 | page=67|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ucjeDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA67}}</ref> A search of the galaxies M31 and M32 was conducted in December 2014 through January 2015 with the intent of quickly searching trillions of systems for extremely powerful signals from advanced civilizations.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Gray|first1=Robert H.|last2=Mooley|first2=Kunal|title=A VLA Search for Radio Signals from M31 and M33|journal=The Astronomical Journal|date=14 February 2017|volume=153|issue=3|pages=110|doi=10.3847/1538-3881/153/3/110|arxiv = 1702.03301 |bibcode = 2017AJ....153..110G |s2cid=119376407 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

It has been used to carry out several large surveys of radio sources, including the [[NRAO VLA Sky Survey]] and [[Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters]].

In September 2017 the [[VLA Sky Survey]] (VLASS) began.<ref name="Murphy">{{cite web |last1= Murphy |first1= Davis |title= VLA Sky Survey |website= NRAO Science |url= https://science.nrao.edu/science/surveys/vlass |access-date= 30 September 2017}}</ref> This survey will cover the entire sky visible to the VLA (80% of the Earth's sky) in three full scans.<ref name="Barbuzano">{{cite magazine |last1= Barbuzano |first1= Javier |date= 26 September 2017 |title= Iconic Radio Telescope Begins 7-year Search for New Objects |magazine= [[Sky & Telescope]] |url= http://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/iconic-radio-telescope-begins-search/ |access-date= 30 September 2017}}</ref> Astronomers expect to find about 10 million new objects with the survey{{snd}} four times more than what is presently known.<ref name="Barbuzano" />

==History==
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."<ref>{{cite book |first1=Wallace |last1=Tucker |first2=Karen |last2=Tucker |title=The Cosmic Inquirers: Modern Telescopes and Their Makers |publisher=Harvard University Press |year=1986 |isbn=0674174356}}</ref> [[United States Congress|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 ${{Format price|78500000}}<ref name="overview"/> (equivalent to ${{Format price|{{Inflation|US-GDP|78500000|1980}}}} in {{Inflation/year|US-GDP}}).{{Inflation/fn|US-GDP}} It was the largest configuration of radio telescopes in the world.

In 1997 the VLA was featured in ''[[Contact (1997 American film)|Contact]]'', the film adaptation of the 1985 [[Contact (novel)|book by the same name]] written by [[Carl Sagan]].<ref>{{Cite web |last= Finley |first= Dave |date= 1997 |title= Hollywood Comes to Socorro: Filming Contact at the Very Large Array |url= https://public.nrao.edu/news/hollywood-films-contact-vla-socorro/ |access-date= 2025-11-07 |website= NRAO News }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title= Beyond The Visible: The Story of the Very Large Array |website= NRAO Gallery |url=https://public.nrao.edu/gallery/beyond-the-visible-vla/ |access-date=2024-09-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240225055841/https://public.nrao.edu/gallery/beyond-the-visible-vla/ |archive-date=2024-02-25}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title= Radio Telescopes in the New Movie |publisher= [[National Science Foundation]] |url= https://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=102822 |access-date= 2024-09-11 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20240103021306/https://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=102822 |archive-date= 2024-01-03}}</ref>

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). Beginning in 2001, the upgrade has enhanced the instrument's sensitivity, [[frequency]] range, and resolution with the installation of new hardware at the San Agustin site. The project was completed on time and on budget in 2012.<ref>{{cite web |title= The Expanded Very Large Array (EVLA) project |website= NRAO Facilities Documentation |url= https://science.nrao.edu/facilities/vla/docs/manuals/oss2013B/intro/project |access-date= 2025-11-06 }}</ref> A second phase of this upgrade may add up to eight additional antennae in other parts of the state of [[New Mexico]], up to {{convert|300|km|sp=us|order=flip}} away, if funded.<ref>{{cite web |title= The Expanded Very Large Array Project: A Radio Telescope to Resolve Cosmic Evolution |publisher= NRAO |url= http://www.aoc.nrao.edu/evla/ |access-date= 2015-03-24}}</ref>

The decade-long EVLA upgrade project resulted in the VLA expanding its technical capacities by factors of up to 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 near the completion of the EVLA project in January 2012 it was announced that the array would be renamed the "[[Karl Guthe Jansky|Karl G. Jansky]] Very Large Array".<ref>{{cite news |agency=Associated Press |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/mexico-radio-telescope-seeking-14740459 |title=New Mexico Radio Telescope Seeking New Name |work=ABC News |date=October 14, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111016030735/https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/mexico-radio-telescope-seeking-14740459 |archive-date=2011-10-16}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Jason |last=Palmer |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-15307169 |title=Very Large Array telescope in public call for new name |work=BBC News |date=October 15, 2011 |access-date=2015-03-24}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last= Finley |first= Dave |date= 2012-01-12 |title= Iconic Telescope Renamed to Honor Founder of Radio Astronomy |work= NRAO News |url= http://www.nrao.edu/pr/2012/jansky/ |access-date= 2015-03-24}}</ref> On March 31, 2012, the VLA was officially renamed in a ceremony inside the Antenna Assembly Building.<ref>{{cite news |first= Dave |last= Finley |date= 2012-03-31 |title= Famous Radio Telescope Officially Gets New Name |work= NRAO News |url= http://www.nrao.edu/pr/2012/rededicate/ |access-date= 2015-03-24}}</ref>

=== ngVLA upgrade ===
[[File:Image Release the ngVLA Prototype Handover Ceremony.png|thumb|The ngVLA prototype antenna during the handover ceremony, with the older antennae in the background.]]
In June 2023, the [[National Radio Astronomy Observatory]] announced that they will be replacing the ageing antennae with 160 new ones at the site, plus 100 auxiliary antennae located across North America. The project, estimated to cost about $2 billion to build and around $90 million to run, will vastly expand the capabilities of the current installation and increase the frequency sensitivity from {{val|50|u=GHz}} to over {{val|100|u=GHz}}. The facility will be renamed the '''Next Generation Very Large Array''' ('''ngVLA''').<ref name="Nott2023">{{cite news |last1=Nott |first1=Robert |date=June 10, 2023 |title=Very Large Array getting even larger |url=https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/very-large-array-getting-even-larger/article_69208ece-0092-11ee-b730-4fd7793911be.html |access-date=June 19, 2023 |work=Santa Fe New Mexican }}</ref><ref name="Lopez2023">{{cite news |last1= Lopez |first1= Tamara |date= 2023-09-23 |title= Very Large Array to expand from 27 antennas to 260 |url=https://www.kob.com/new-mexico/very-large-array-to-expand-from-27-antennas-to-260/ |work= KOB 4 |access-date= 2025-11-06 }}</ref>

Upgrading to the ngVLA will begin in late 2028 and early science operation will begin in mid 2031.{{update after|2028}}<ref>{{Cite web |title= ngVLA – Next Geneation Very Large Array |type= Media brochure |website= ngVLA Project |publisher= [[NRAO]] |url=https://ngvla.nrao.edu/download/MediaFile/412/original |access-date=2025-02-15 }}</ref> This upgrade will replace the old antennae with more than 260 new antennae.<ref name="Bartsch2025">{{Cite web |last= Bartsch |first= Gunnar |date=2024-12-17 |title=A World-Class Telescope at the Top of Germany |url=https://www.uni-wuerzburg.de/en/news-and-events/news/detail/news/ein-teleskop-der-weltspitze/ |access-date=2025-02-15 |website= [[Universität Würzburg]] }}</ref> These will be 18 meters in diameter and have three configurations:<ref name="WilnerNgVLA2004">{{cite arXiv |eprint=2408.14497 |last1=Wilner |first1=David J. |last2=Matthews |first2=Brenda C. |last3=McGuire |first3=Brett |last4=Bergner |first4=Jennifer |last5=Walter |first5=Fabian |last6=Somerville |first6=Rachel |last7=DeCesar |first7=Megan |last8= van der Horst |first8= Alexander |last9=Osten |first9=Rachel |last10=Corsi |first10=Alessandra |last11=Baker |first11=Andrew |last12=Bergin |first12=Edwin |last13=Bolatto |first13=Alberto |last14=Blecha |first14=Laura |last15=Bower |first15=Geoff |last16=Burke-Spolaor |first16=Sarah |last17=Carrasco-Gonzalez |first17=Carlos |author18=Katherine de Keller |author19=Imke de Pater |last20=Dickinson |first20=Mark |last21=Drout |first21=Maria |last22=Hallinan |first22=Gregg |last23=Hatsukade |first23=Bunyo |last24=Isella |first24=Andrea |last25=Izumi |first25=Takuma |last26=Johnson |first26=Megan |last27=Lazio |first27=Joseph |last28=Leroy |first28=Adam |last29=Maccarone |first29=Thomas |last30=Mills |first30=Betsy |title=Key Science Goals for the Next Generation Very Large Array (NgVLA): Update from the ngVLA Science Advisory Council (2024) |date=2024 |class=astro-ph.IM |display-authors=1 }}</ref>
* Short baseline array (SBA) is a dense core within about {{convert|1|km|0|sp=us}} that includes 19 close-packed antennae with {{convert|6|m|ft|sp=us|adj=on}} diameter. It might be combined with four {{convert|18|m|ft|sp=us|adj=on}} antennae located in [[New Mexico]].<ref name="WilnerNgVLA2004" /><ref name="NRAO ngVLA">{{Cite web |title= Array Configuration |website= ngVLA Project |publisher= NRAO |url= https://ngvla.nrao.edu/page/array-config |access-date= 2025-02-15 }}</ref>
* Main Interferometric Array: 214 antennae of {{convert|18|m|ft|sp=us|adj=on}}, reaching a baseline of about {{val|1000|u=km}}. The antennae will be arranged in a dense core and [[spiral]] arms. Located in New Mexico, west [[Texas]], eastern [[Arizona]], and northern [[Mexico]].<ref name="WilnerNgVLA2004" /><ref name="NRAO ngVLA" />
* Long Baseline Array (LBA): An additional 30 antennae with {{convert|18|m|ft|sp=us|adj=on}} diameter of continental scale. Originally stations in [[Hawaii]], [[Washington (state)|Washington]], [[California]], [[Iowa]], [[West Virginia]], [[New Hampshire]], [[Puerto Rico]], the [[United States Virgin Islands|US Virgin Islands]], and [[Canada]],<ref name="WilnerNgVLA2004" /><ref name="NRAO ngVLA" /> but now also includes a station in [[Germany]].<ref name="Bartsch2025" />

The ngVLA will be ten times more sensitive than the old VLA and ten times more sensitive than ALMA. It will operate at {{val|1.2|-|116|u=GHz}}.<ref>{{Cite web |title= About the Next-Generation Very Large Array |website= ngVLA Project |publisher= NRAO |url=https://ngvla.nrao.edu/page/about |access-date= 2025-02-15 }}</ref> A prototype antenna was produced by the German company [[mtex antenna technology]] in [[Schkeuditz]], Saxony<ref>{{Cite web |date= September 28, 2023 |title= German tech factory reveals antenna prototype—ngVLA will open a new window into the Universe |website= NRAO News |url= https://public.nrao.edu/news/ngvla-prototype-debut/ |access-date= 2025-02-15 }}</ref> and panels made by CONCAD in [[Walldürn]].<ref>{{Cite web |title= Präzision öffnet neuen Blick aufs Universum |trans-title= Precision opens up a new perspective on the universe |website= CONCAD Projekt Highlights - ngVLA |language= de |url=https://www.concad-gmbh.de/bauteile-highlights/projekt-highlights/ngvla-next-generation-very-large-array/ |access-date=2025-11-06 }}</ref> The prototype dish was installed on its pedestal on February 6, 2025.<ref>{{Cite news |last= Murphy |first= Eric |date= 2025-02-18 |title= ngVLA Project News |volume= 18 |issue= 2 |work= NRAO Newsletter |url= https://science.nrao.edu/enews/18.2/ |access-date= 2025-03-09 }}</ref>

A project led by the [[University of Würzburg]] will build the [[Wetterstein Millimeter Telescope]] (WMT)<ref name="mtex-at/wetterstein">{{cite web |author= mtex |date= 2025-06-25 |title=The German Wetterstein Millimeter Telescope is gaining ground |url=https://www.mtex-at.com/en/post/the-german-wetterstein-millimeter-telescope-is-gaining-ground |website= mtex antenna technology |access-date= 2025-07-17  }}</ref> on top of the [[Zugspitze]], near the [[Schneefernerhaus]]. The new [[radio telescope]] will be part of the ngVLA, as the German contribution to the ngVLA. The WMT will also be able to do observations on its own.<ref name="Bartsch2025" /><ref>{{Cite web |date= February 10, 2025 |title= Next-Generation Very Large Array Antenna Design to be Used By German Astronomers |work= NRAO News |url= https://public.nrao.edu/news/next-generation-very-large-array-antenna-design-to-be-used-by-german-astronomers/ |access-date= 2025-02-15 }}</ref>

== Tourism ==
[[File:Bracewell Sundial.jpg|thumb|The Bracewell Radio Sundial on the VLA walking tour, seen from the south. Named for [[Ronald N. Bracewell]], this sundial marks on the ground positions of the shadow of the central sphere (the [[gnomon]]) at different times of day and times of year. The shadow on Dec 22, 2017 falls very near the [[winter solstice]] line and the 1:00 PM (solar time) mark. The other two lines of markers north of the gnomon are for the [[equinox]]es and the [[summer solstice]]. Additional lines of markers south of the gnomon mark positions of "shadows" of the radio sources [[Cygnus A]] and [[Cassiopeia A]]. The posts at the back of the sundial were recovered from Bracewell's radio telescope array at [[Stanford University]], abandoned in 1980, where they had been signed by visitors with chisels at his invitation.]]

The VLA is located between the towns of [[Magdalena, New Mexico|Magdalena]] and [[Datil, New Mexico|Datil]], about {{convert|50|mi|sp=us}} west of [[Socorro, New Mexico]]. [[U.S. Route 60 in New Mexico|U.S. Route 60]] passes east–west through the complex.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Visit the Very Large Array |website= Visit NRAO |url= https://public.nrao.edu/visit/very-large-array/ |access-date=2023-08-08 }}</ref>

The VLA site is open to visitors with paid admission.<ref name="visit" /> 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.<ref name="visit"/> For those who cannot travel to the site, the NRAO created a virtual tour of the VLA called the ''VLA Explorer''.<ref>{{cite web |title= The VLA Explorer |website= Explore NRAO |url= https://public.nrao.edu/special-features/vla-explorer/ |access-date= 30 September 2017}}</ref>

The VLA site was previously closed to visitors from March 2020 through October 2022.<ref>{{cite news |date= 2020-03-13 |title= Latest Updates on COVID-19 Measures from NRAO, ALMA, GBO |work= NRAO News |url= https://public.nrao.edu/news/covid19/ |access-date= 2020-10-03 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20201003233549/https://public.nrao.edu/news/covid19/ |archive-date= 2020-10-03 |quote= All our facilities are CLOSED to the public!}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date= 2022-09-28 |title= Latest Updates on COVID-19 Measures from NRAO, ALMA, GBO |work= NRAO News |url= https://public.nrao.edu/news/covid19/ |access-date= 2022-10-03 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20221008174018/https://public.nrao.edu/news/covid19/ |archive-date= 2022-10-08 }}</ref>

{{Panorama
|image   = File:VLA pano.jpg
|height  = 200
|caption = The cross rail track structure of the VLA, including an empty antenna mount station on the right (the three concrete piers that the antenna's triangular base mounts to)
}}

== See also ==
* [[Magdalena Ridge Observatory]], about {{convert|25|mi|km|0|sp=us}} southeast of the VLA; run by VLA collaborator [[New Mexico Tech]].
* [[Allen Telescope Array]] (ATA)
* [[Atacama Large Millimeter Array]] (ALMA)
* [[Green Bank Telescope]] (GBT)
* [[Lake San Agustín]], which once stood where the VLA is now
* [[List of radio telescopes]]
* [[Square Kilometre Array]] (SKA)
* [[Very-long-baseline interferometry]] (VLBI)
* [[Very Small Array]] (VSA)


== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category}}
* {{Official website|http://www.vla.nrao.edu/}}
* [http://www.nrao.edu/explorer/vla/ VLA Explorer]
* [https://science.nrao.edu/facilities/vla The Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array] page at [[NRAO]]
* {{APOD |date=14 May 2006 |title=The Very Large Array of Radio Telescopes}}
* [https://public.nrao.edu/ngvla/ The Next Generation Very Large Array] (ngVLA)

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[[Category:Astronomical observatories in New Mexico]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Socorro County, New Mexico]]
[[Category:Interferometric telescopes]]
[[Category:Museums in Socorro County, New Mexico]]
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[[Category:Science museums in New Mexico]]
[[Category:1980 establishments in New Mexico]]