VLA Telescope Array in New Mexico

I have wanted to visit and see this place for a long time, so I made the 4 hour detour on the tail end of my southwest trip to drop in for a shoot. It is an incredible place to see, and witness the individual dishes changing direction in formation.

The Very Large Array (VLA) is a radio astronomy observatory located in New Mexico. The observatory consists of 27 independent antennas, each of which has a dish diameter of 25 meters (82 feet) and weighs 209 metric tons (230 Short tons). The antennas are arrayed along the three arms of a Y-shape (each of which measures 21 km/13 miles long).

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#3

Very nice Koveh! Looks like some very spectacular weather, as well, which makes your images top notch!

Ken

Great shots Koveh. I've drove by them once before, but didn't stop to take any pictures. It's a really cool place.

I really like #1 and #2. This reminds me of the movie Contact.

Those are some great clouds! I like the first two as well.

Great shots ! what color in the clouds in #2.

Interesting images for sure. You had some great light to go along with it. Nice work.

The antenna in #1 really contrasts well with the dark clouded sky and band of brighter blue sky underneath. I like that image best.

The stormy looking weather helps make these look so good!
Can't really comment as these are so small.
Wish you had posted at the max. allowable size.

Really nice skies and your comps are solid. All are excellent shots.

Cool shots. Amy beat me to the "Contact" reference, but it's what I think of whenever I see the VLA. Just thinking of that movie gives me a mixed feeling of joy and sorrow.

Thanks all for the kind comments.

John, I apologize for not posting bigger shots. I tried uploading the bigger ones and it failed due to being too large, and I am not at a location where I can custom size these right now.

Quite a nice collection. Beautiful color especially on #2.

Very nice, Koveh! You picked a great time for the clouds. My folks live in Magdalena, so I've seen a lot of the VLA, but these stand out as excellent takes on the place.

Unfortunately (to mind mind at least) Contact succumbed to the temptation to juxtapose shots of the VLA with a Utah-style sandstone canyon. And Jodie Foster, alas, declined to visit the Golden Spur in Magdalena.

These are great and #1 is a particularly strong image. I think #2 is really good but would have been better if shot from farther to the right and with the array centered. But the colors are fantastic. Thanks for sharing these.

Great shots Koveh! I've been there a couple of times and got some nice shots, but you had better sky than I ever had...
I hope you went further west and visited Pie Town (and the hidden dish off of the main road that is an extension of the VLA).

A very interesting subject, nice job.