April 7 The Very Large Array

 Our next stop was at the Very Large Array.  Michael and I were both excited that this was located on our way to Silver City.  We had tried to get an appointment ahead of time, but we waited too long and there were none available.  We decided to go anyway.  Turns out there is a short self-guided tour you can take that takes you right up to one of the antennas.

The museum is very informative.  If you enlarge the photos you should be able to read the information yourselves.  I will just give a brief overview.  This is a radio telescope and when it was put into operation in 1976 it was the largest and finest of its type.  Since then others have been built around the world.  This on has been updated and still is in use today.

Then we went outside to take the tour.  It was getting very windy and colder by the minute.  So we sort of rushed through this part.  This is a smaller version that you can get close to.

One antenna with the "mover" at a distance.

There are 27 antennas in the Array.  

The Antenna's in the Large Array can be moved into four different configurations depending on what they are studying.  

I was most fascinated by the method used to move the antenna into the different configurations.  The tracks lead to each one of the antennas and the different locations they can be in.  The "mover" drives under the antenna and lifts them off the pedestals with hydraulics.  Then they are moved to the next location and installed there.  I only saw one of these vehicles.  If there is only one it must take quite some time to get the antennas all in position.  

We still had a 5 hour drive to Silver City so no more stops for us.