Thenaturalmedic Adventures
Hello there, and thanks so much for joining us here! You are probably wondering what this podcast is all about? In this podcast, we will talk about all sorts of outdoor adventures, but primarily, for now, we will focus on hiking and backpacking. No other outdoor adventure is so accessible to so many people! So please join us as we talk about how to hike/backpack and learn how to hike any length trail from your local neighborhood parks to those long trails such as the Appalachian and others worldwide! Remember... "in every walk with nature; one receives far more than he seeks... - John Muir " See you on the trail!
Thenaturalmedic Adventures
Exploring the Very Large Array: Where Earth Meets the Universe
Journey with me, the Natural Medic, as I explore the awe-inspiring expanses of the Very Large Array (VLA) in New Mexico. Imagine standing at 7,000 feet, surrounded by these colossal 82-foot radio telescopes that seem to touch the sky. Discover what it’s like to navigate a landscape where cutting-edge technology meets the serene, untouched beauty of the high desert. Each telescope is a marvel of engineering, meticulously positioned on 39 miles of tracks to capture the whispers of the universe. From the compact D configuration to the expansive A configuration stretching over 22 miles, the VLA’s dynamic arrangements allow us to peer deep into the cosmos with remarkable precision.
Amidst these titanic structures, experience the hum of innovation as data is processed by an on-site supercomputer capable of 16 quadrillion processes per second—truly one of humanity’s incredible achievements. You'll uncover how the VLA operates in this remote locale to shield itself from everyday radio interference, and learn about the intricate system keeping these telescopes in sync. Whether you're a seasoned astronomer or simply curious about the frontiers of science, this episode offers a captivating glimpse into how we are unraveling the mysteries beyond our world. Come along on this adventure and feel the thrill of standing where Earth meets the universe.
Hey, a little bit different type of adventure today. This is the Natural Medic. I'm in New Mexico, at the Very Large Array outside of Socorro, new Mexico. It's a radio astronomy area. It's pretty neat, let's check it out. So, at an altitude of 7,000 feet, these radio telescopes which is what they are they're very large, they're 82 feet from side to side across. There are you can see several of them out here in the area. They are configured in different arrays, which makes a huge surface for them to collect radio information from the universe.
Speaker 1:Let's take a closer look at this one. So one of the questions people probably ask, because they have a panel here that says why is the VLA so large, vla being the Very Large Array? Even though these are very large, larger than any optical telescope that is in existence they don't see the same wavelengths, so they cannot see us clearly. So what happens is you have all these telescopes. There's one or two over there I don't see any this direction but there's a couple of them that are out this way. They're all mobile. You can see these railroad tracks. They use very slow-moving locomotives to move these to different locations. Just looking up at this thing, look how massive this thing is. It's huge. But what they can do is they can configure this. If you look here into four different arrays, arrays, array 1, in this particular case, is the deconfiguration which is 0.6 miles across. But they can configure it to show's see loads of the gas seven. It starts to be blurry but you can see knots and bubbles in the jet so you can see more detail and the highest resolution you can. They can put it into the a configuration which is twenty two miles. So each configuration from the D, c, b, a gets larger and they have more resolution and more optical, more space that the telescopes can see. Hope that makes sense.
Speaker 1:But if you look in the valley, here we're on the plains of San Augustine. But if you look in the valley, here we're on the plains of San Augustine, Probably mispronouncing that slightly. This whole area is lifted up. It's high desert surrounded by mountains. It's very dry. Here it is New Mexico, of course, and the mountains that surround the plains here they insulate the area or isolate the area, however you want to phrase it, from interference from radio signals, because radio signals, even cell phones you just turn your cell phone off when you're here can interfere with the radio signals they receive on these radio telescopes.
Speaker 1:I'm not sure what configuration they're in right now and it would be lovely to see them move, but I don't think that's going to happen right now. But how cool is this? Just to see this, it's very neat. Pretty windy today, as it is very open plains here, and that's that's crazy to think about now. If you look here, as I said, 82 feet across, the aluminum panels are reflective and they're Accurate to 0.5 millimeters so I can very precisely track radio sources. There's some more configurations there. I'm not an engineer so I'm not even going to bother to try to understand that, but they have some configurations down here.
Speaker 1:We'll take a look into the dish here. Real quick Talks about the rail system. So they have 39 miles of track here, specially designated with certain ditch. Wow, isn't that crazy? That is amazing, amazing, what we can do as humans. Of course I was going to ask the guy inside that was the guide what kind of channels can they pick up on these things? Do you think they get free HBO? I don't know. Behind me you have the music of the spheres. My guess would be it's representing the wind going across the dishes and the different sounds that it makes. Kind of representation of that. This is an excellent place. Y'all Definitely come check it out if you're ever in the area.
Speaker 1:So what happens once all these different antennas compile all this data? Inside of this building that I'm standing on the balcony of, they have a supercomputer they built specifically to calculate all this data. It's so fast it does 16 quadrillion processes per second One of the fastest computer systems ever built. You can see how large that is. There's a man standing out there by that dish. You can see how large that is compared to a man, and then you can see they're all lined up in a huge configuration over there. Looks like they're building another one over here. They do have a panel here talking about the next generation. The very large array was a generational leap and the next one is going to be even bigger. They're going to have 263 radio antennas that are here centered in the plains of San Augustine, and there'll be a radio telescope spanning from Hawaii to the Caribbean, giving it 100 times greater capabilities than what the VLA can currently do. That's amazing.
Speaker 1:I'm not an astronomer or an engineer, but that's just. I don't even know what to think about that. So what does this all mean? I think things like this can help us determine our place in the universe, who we are, where we come from, how our planet came into existence those are things that humans have always been curious about. Where we come from, how our planet came into existence those are things that humans have always been curious about and I hope this opened up your curiosity to learn more about this site. If you enjoyed it, hit the thumbs up. Definitely, if you're over this area, come check it out. It's pretty easily accessible off of US 60 west of Socorro, new Mexico, which is right on 25 going between El Paso and Albuquerque. If you like content like this which I'm not always doing astronomical stuff, but this just seemed like a cool place to visit think about subscribing If you have questions, comments, etc. If you've ever been here before, let me know in the comments below. No-transcript.
