Very Large Array
Twenty-seven radio dishes on rail tracks across a New Mexico plain, moved into different configurations by a purpose-built transporter.
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The array sits at 2,124 metres on the Plains of San Agustin, a flat basin ringed by mountains that shields it from radio interference. Twenty-seven dishes, each twenty-five metres across and weighing around 230 tonnes, stand in a Y with arms up to twenty-one kilometres long. The dishes are not fixed: they run on railway track and a specially built transporter lifts and moves them between configurations several times a year, trading resolution against sensitivity - so the array looks quite different depending when you visit. Combined electronically they work as a single instrument. The visitor centre is self-guided with a walking trail out to one dish, and the site appeared in the film Contact.
What you actually see
- Twenty-seven twenty-five-metre dishes - arranged in a Y.
- Dishes moved on rail track - reconfigured several times a year.
- A walking trail to one dish - up close from the visitor centre.
- A flat basin at 2,124 metres - chosen for radio quiet.
When to go
April to October; guided tours run on set days. Two to three hours.
Honest expectations
The configuration changes, so the compact arrangement of the famous photographs is only there part of the year. Mobile phones must be off or in airplane mode. It is remote with no services nearby. Winter weather closes the road at times.
Nearby
Magdalena is east; Pie Town is west along US 60.
What to pack for Very Large Array
Chosen from what this place is for. Tap a kit for the full checklist.
Opening times, ticket prices and seasonal closures change - check the official source before you go: official site.
