Very Large Array (VLA)

The Very Large Array is a radio astronomy observatory, part of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO).  It consists of 27, 82' antennas, each weighing over 200 tons.  They are arranged in a Y shape along rails, all movable by locamotive.  The VLA was activated in 1980 after a final cost of $78.5 million.

According to Wikipedia, the VLA is used to study many topics, including:

• radio galaxies
• quasars
• pulsars
• supernovas
• gamma ray bursts
• radio-emitting stars
• the sun and planets
• astrophysical masers
• black holes

The VLA has been featured in many films, most notably "Contact" and other films by Carl Sagan.

For more information and a slew of images, see the Wikipedia entry:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Very_Large_Array

Thanks to my friend Robert Schroeder for suggesting I post this (he recently completed work with NASA).