Last week, Brad and I took a long weekend trip into NM to see the birds at Bosque del Apache, and on the way home, we stopped at the Very Large Array, which is about 45 miles west of Socorro.

It was quite an impressive place, and I’d recommend a visit if you’re ever nearby. They have a very nice visitor center, which is completely unstaffed (a good use of public funds in my opinion). The whole facility apparently runs on a staff of seven, though we saw quite a bit of activity going on while they were there. They also have a self-guided walking tour which is very nice.

While there, I learned that these are radio telescopes, which means that they detect radio emissions from space (and while the film Contact was shot here, they do not actually do SETI work. They did, however, say that if any viable signals were detected, they’d be the first to look further.) There are 27 telescopes arranged in a large Y-shape, which makes up the array. By joining signals, they are able to function together as a much larger telescope. The telescopes move along railroad tracks to form different configurations. Each one also reorients itself fairly often.

Here are some pictures.

Driving home, we went a back way we hadn’t been, west out Socorro and then through Pie Town and Quemado before heading south through Gila Forest. The drive was fabulous, and we also stopped at the Catwalks (more about that another time). Here’s a time lapse movie Brad took on the drive. (If you don’t want to watch the whole thing, go to about 1:10 to see the Very Large Array telescopes moving.)