Photo – Page 79 – National Radio Astronomy Observatory

Giant Ducks in a Row

The North Arm of the Very Large Array shows perfectly aligned 25-meter antennas in their stowed position. This is D-configuration, when all 27 antennas of the VLA sit on the piers closest together, forming an array only 1km in diameter.

Night Sky Over the 20-meter Telescope

The 20-meter telescope in Green Bank, West Virginia is a fully-robotic instrument used by the SKYNET project out of the University of North Carolina. In this photo, facing north, the Pole Star remains nearly fixed as the Earth turns underneath it, while the rest of the stars leave trails.

Fort Davis VLBA

In Fort Davis, Texas sits one of our ten Very Long Baseline Array telescopes.

Chilean President Sebastián Piñera and former NSF Director, Subra Suresh

Chilean President at ALMA

On March 13, 2013, ALMA was officially inaugurated by Chilean President Sebastián Piñera, seen here at the 16,500-ft elevation high site with former NSF Director, Subra Suresh.

Chajnantor Plateau

This is the view of the Chajnantor Plateau that greeted NRAO astronomers who were exploring the northeastern region of Chile as a potential site for a millimeter/submillimeter wave telescope array then known as the MMA. The high altitude of 16,500 feet and the flat expanse were perfect for our needs. European and Japanese radio astronomers agreed, and we pooled our projects to build ALMA here.

Milky Way Over ALMA

In its high-elevation site, where the atmospheric pressure is half what it is at sea level, ALMA’s views of the sky are second to none. Here, the band of stars known as the Milky Way arcs over the antennas. This band is our embedded view through the disk of our spiral-shaped Milky Way Galaxy.

The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a facility of the U.S. National Science Foundation operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc.
	Founded in 1956, the NRAO provides state-of-the-art radio telescope facilities for use by the international scientific community. NRAO telescopes are open to all astronomers regardless of institutional or national affiliation. Observing time on NRAO telescopes is available on a competitive basis to qualified scientists after evaluation of research proposals on the basis of scientific merit, the capability of the instruments to do the work, and the availability of the telescope during the requested time. NRAO also provides both formal and informal programs in education and public outreach for teachers, students, the general public, and the media.
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