Editing Very Large Array (section)

{{Short description|Radio astronomy observatory in New Mexico, US}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox telescope
| map_caption = Location of the Very Large Array
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[[File:Plant ecologies on site.jpg|thumb|One of the 28 radio telescopes, seen here undergoing maintenance in "The Barn"<ref>{{cite web |title=VLA Antennas and The Barn |url=https://public.nrao.edu/gallery/vla-antennas-and-the-barn/ |access-date=19 May 2020 |website=National Radio Astronomy Observatory}}</ref>]]
The '''Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array''' ('''VLA''') is a centimeter-wavelength [[radio astronomy]] observatory in the southwestern United States built in the 1970s. It lies in central [[New Mexico]] on the [[Plains of San Agustin]], between the towns of [[Magdalena, New Mexico|Magdalena]] and [[Datil, New Mexico|Datil]], approximately {{convert|50|mi}} west of [[Socorro, New Mexico|Socorro]]. The VLA comprises twenty-eight 25-meter radio telescopes (twenty-seven of which are operational while one is always rotating through maintenance) deployed in a Y-shaped array and all the equipment, instrumentation, and computing power to function as an [[astronomical interferometer|interferometer]]. Each of the massive telescopes is mounted on double parallel railroad tracks, so the radius and density of the array can be transformed to adjust the balance between its angular resolution and its surface brightness sensitivity.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Welcome to the Very Large Array |url=http://www.vla.nrao.edu |website=National Radio Astronomy Observatory}}</ref> Astronomers using the VLA have made key observations of [[black hole]]s and [[protoplanetary disk]]s around [[Stellar age estimation|young stars]], discovered magnetic filaments and traced complex gas motions at the [[Milky Way]]'s center, probed the Universe's cosmological parameters, and provided new knowledge about the physical mechanisms that produce [[Radio wave|radio emission]].

The VLA stands at an elevation of {{convert|6970|ft}} above sea level. It is a component of the [[National Radio Astronomy Observatory]] (NRAO).<ref name="visit">{{cite web |url=https://public.nrao.edu/tours/visitvla |title=Visit the VLA |work=public.nrao.edu |publisher=National Radio Astronomy Observatory |access-date=2015-03-24}}</ref> The NRAO is a facility of the [[National Science Foundation]] operated under cooperative agreement by [[Associated Universities, Inc.|Associated Universities, Inc]].