Very Long Baseline Array - Observations By The VLBA

Observations By The VLBA

The Very Long Baseline Array usually makes radio observations at wavelengths from three millimeters to 28 centimeters, or in other words, at frequencies from 1.2 gigahertz to 96 gigahertz. Within this frequency range, the VLBA observes in eight different frequency bands that are useful for radio astronomy. The VLBA also makes observations in two narrow radio bands below one gigahertz that include spectral lines produced by bright maser emissions.

The use of the VLBA can be scheduled dynamically, and its sensitivity can be improved by a factor of five by including other radio telescopes such as the Very Large Array (VLA) in New Mexico and the Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia with the VLBA.

The VLBA radio telescopes are located at:

North Liberty Fort Davis Los Alamos Pie Town Kitt Peak Owens Valley Brewster Green Bank VLA VLBA locations (red) and HSA locations (blue) in the contiguous United States

Toponymy	U.S. state	Geographic coordinate system
St. Croix	U.S. Virgin Islands	17°45′23″N 64°35′02″W / 17.75652°N 64.58376°W / 17.75652; -64.58376	SC
Hancock	New Hampshire	42°56′01″N 71°59′13″W / 42.93362°N 71.98681°W / 42.93362; -71.98681	HN
North Liberty	Iowa	41°46′18″N 91°34′27″W / 41.77165°N 91.574133°W / 41.77165; -91.574133	NL
Fort Davis	Texas	30°38′07″N 103°56′41″W / 30.635214°N 103.944826°W / 30.635214; -103.944826	FD
Los Alamos	New Mexico	35°46′56″N 106°15′20″W / 35.78233°N 106.25568°W / 35.78233; -106.25568	LA
Pie Town	New Mexico	34°18′04″N 108°07′09″W / 34.30107°N 108.11912°W / 34.30107; -108.11912	PT
Kitt Peak	Arizona	31°57′23″N 111°36′44″W / 31.956253°N 111.612361°W / 31.956253; -111.612361	KP
Owens Valley	California	37°13′54″N 118°16′38″W / 37.23176°N 118.27714°W / 37.23176; -118.27714	OV
Brewster	Washington	48°07′52″N 119°41′00″W / 48.13117°N 119.68325°W / 48.13117; -119.68325	BR
Mauna Kea	Hawaii	19°48′06″N 155°27′21″W / 19.80159°N 155.45581°W / 19.80159; -155.45581	MK

Four other sites are brought online for as much as 100 hours per four-month trimester. In this configuration, the entire array is known as the High-Sensitivity Array. These sites, with coordinates, are as follows:

Mauna Kea Arecibo Effelsberg VLBA locations (red) and HSA locations (blue) around the world

Toponymy	State	Geographic coordinate system
Arecibo	Puerto Rico	18°20′36.60″N 66°45′11.10″W / 18.3435°N 66.753083°W / 18.3435; -66.753083	AR
Green Bank	West Virginia	38°25′59.24″N 79°50′23.41″W / 38.4331222°N 79.8398361°W / 38.4331222; -79.8398361	GB
Very Large Array	New Mexico	34°04′43.75″N 107°37′05.91″W / 34.0788194°N 107.6183083°W / 34.0788194; -107.6183083	Y27
Effelsberg	Germany	50°31′30″N 6°53′00.3″E / 50.525°N 6.883417°E / 50.525; 6.883417	EB