In northern California sits one of the identical ten antennas of the Very Long Baseline Array. Data from each of the 25-meter radio telescopes are shipped to the Array Operations Center in Socorro, New Mexico to be digitally combined. The ten antennas are spread over a 5,351-mile long baseline that runs from Hawai’i to St. Croix.
VLBA Antenna on top of Mauna Kea
This antenna of the Very Long Baseline Array sits on an extinct volcano known as Mauna Kea in Hawai’i. Data from each of the ten 25-meter radio telescopes of the VLBA are shipped to the Array Operations Center in Socorro, New Mexico to be digitally combined. The antennas are spread over a 5,351-mile long baseline from this antenna to its identical sibling on the island of St. Croix.
VLBA Pie Town at Sunset
The Sun sets behind the Pie Town, New Mexico telescope of the Very Long Baseline Array. This 25-meter dish antenna is one of 10 identical antennas spanning 5,351 miles from Hawai’i to the Virgin Islands.
VLBA antenna in Brewster, Washington
In Brewster, Washington sits this 25-meter antenna of the Very Long Baseline Array, a collection of ten identical antennas placed on sites from Hawai’i to the U.S. Virgin Islands. Data from each of the antennas is shipped to the Array Operations Center in Socorro, New Mexico to be digitally combined.
The 45-foot outlier of the Green Bank Interferometer
The 45-foot portable radio telescope replaced the less accurate 42-foot as the fourth element in the Green Bank Interferometer. In this photo from 1974, the 45-foot is 20 miles from Green Bank on a knoll in Huntersville. The tower beside it transmitted the telescope’s data to the GBI’s control building.
Looking Down on Green Bank’s 45-foot outlier
The 45-foot telescope and its trailer control room are not the only highlight In this aerial shot of Green Bank, West Virginia. One of the old blue diesel vehicles used on site is on its way through the gates that separate the protected telescope zone from the rest of the facility.