Very Large Array

The Very Large Array (VLA or Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array) is an interferometer radio telescope on the Plains of San Agustin, in New Mexico, at an elevation is 2124 meters (6970 feet). It is run by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) and is currently named for Karl G. Jansky, the radio engineer who first discovered radio signals from astronomical distances. It consists of 27 independent 25-meter antennas and operates at wavelengths 0.6 to 410 cm (50 GHz-73 MHz). Using interferometry (with baselines up to a 36 km), it achieves angular resolutions as small as 0.05 arcsecond. It was built in 1973-1980 under the name Very Large Array (VLA) and was renamed (attaching Jansky's name) with a 2001-2012 upgrade that replaced all the electronics, the upgraded array having been called the Expanded Very Large Array (EVLA) until adoption of the new name.