Place to see: The Very Large Array, Magdalena, New Mexico, United States

Postcards about The Very Large Array:

• 

  31 March 2008
  From:
  Eric Hart

  My girlfriend and I stopped at the VLA while cruising around southern New Mexico one summer. It's incredibly quiet there; the scope and scale of the antennas is absolutely breathtaking. They move so silently and slowly, at first we thought they were stationary. But then you turn around and find that all the antennae are pointing in a different direction from the last time you looked. It's almost like something out of a ghost story.

• 

  9 October 2009
  From:
  David Miller

  I've visited the VLA several times and took the behind-the-scenes tour. What was shocking was the computers are still out of the 70s; my cell phone may be more powerful than a lot of that equipment. It is such a serene experience, oftentimes the only traffic is cows in the road. Nearby Magdalena is a great town to stay overnight.

• 

  13 December 2007
  From:
  Michael Menefee

  The VLA is a do not miss for any self-respecting geek. The first time we came during the day and were blown away by the quality of the free museum. There's everything from exhibits a kid could enjoy to detailed accounts on the underlying metric ton of minutia that makes this place tick. Perhaps our more recent trip was even better when we visited under a nearly full moon, allowing us a fantastical night view of the giant antennae spread out across the Plains of San Augstin (see my photo from that night).