Travels of the Agnew Family in the "Dog House" 2006-2007

We left the campground near Bosque del Apache and headed north west to the VLA or Very Large Array. From their web site “The Very Large Array, 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.” The antennas can be arranged in different shapes and were in the "D" configuration during our visit. That means the antennas were close together so we could see all of them. This arrangement allows them to get more detail on a particular area. The antennas can be spread out across 13 miles on each arm of the "Y" allowing them to see larger areas in space. The antennas are mounted on railway tracks and are moved using a special railway car.


One of the antennas


The array --- the antennas were pointed in two directions.


While we were there they rotated the antennas to all face the same direction.