Very Large Array, NM Copyright © 1998, Don Baccus (dhogaza@pacifier.com)
All images copyright © 1998, Don Baccus
Drive about an hour west of Socorro, New Mexico, and you'll
come across a scene that looks like it belongs in a science
fiction movie. Large, white antennas are scattered across
the landscape, pointed towards the sky. A closer look reveals
that they lie alongside three railroad tracks which converge
in one-hundred and twenty degree angles near a cluster of
modest buildings. If you look way for a few minutes, you'll
perhaps be startled to notice that the antennas now point towards
a different part of the ksy. Soon, a sign declares a left turn
leading
to the "Very Large Array Visitor Center".
Though this is no movie set, if you're among the millions who
saw the film "Contact", based on a novel by the late astronomer
Carl Sagan and starring Jodie Foster, the place will look very
familiar, for the movie was filmed here. You will probably also
be under the mistaken impression
that the purpose of this place is to search for radio signals
from intellegent beings living in deep space.
What is this strange creation, spread over a large chunk of
rangeland in a remote portion of New Mexico? It is a radio
telescope built from a novel design made possible by
the development of large computers.
Rather than build one huge antenna the size of a heck of a lot of football fields, these relatively small antenna provide data which are then combined by a large computer complex. Combined in this way, the installation can form radio images which have the resolution of a much larger, single antenna but at a fraction of the cost.
Besides being a cool astronomical tool, unlike many large-scale
scientific instruments it's a cool place to visit. Along with
the visitor center, you can walk and visit one of the antenna
and check out the large repair building. You can also peek
at piles
of 11x14 inch line printer paper in vinyl binders makes it
clear that this is indeed 1970s, not 1990s, computer technology.
Periodically, antenna motors hum as they are efficiently re-aimed
by the control system according to an observation schedule set
months in advance. Researchers from around the world apply for
time on the instrument, still the most powerful of its kind in
the world.
Best of all, though, for the visitor who's into photography is
the fact that the installation makes a fascinating subject. I
was in the area photographing birds at
Bosque del Apache National
Wildlife Refuge, and only had one
afternoon to run out to visit and photograph the Very Large
Area, and the photographs on this page are the result.