Here are a few pictures that I took at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory's Very Large Array (VLA) radio telescope on May 18, 2005. The VLA is located on the Plains of San Agustin about 50 miles west of Socorro NM. The site is about 7,000 feet above sea level. The VLA consists of 27 individual 82 foot diameter dishes spread out in a Y pattern. Each dish weighs about 230 tons of which 100 tons is the moveable dish portion. Each leg of the Y is about 13 miles long. So it is virtually impossible to photograph the entire array from the ground.

SUNSET ON THE DESERT

The next 3 photos were taken during the beautiful desert sunset.

7:55 PM

8:20 PM

8:31 PM

ANTENNA ASSEMBLY BUILDING (AAB)

One of the dishes undergoing maintenance inside of the giant AAB. All of the dishes can be moved as needed on standard gauge railroad tracks built into the site.

©2005 Pat Griffith

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