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National Radio Astronomy Observatory
P.O. Box O
Socorro, NM 87801
http://www.nrao.edu

Contact:
Dave Finley, NRAO Public Information Officer, Socorro, NM
(505) 835-7302, dfinley{at}nrao.edu

June 11, 2003

Scientists Celebrate VLBA's First Decade As Astronomy's Sharpest
"Eye" on the Universe

Scientists from around the globe are gathered in Socorro, New Mexico,
to mark the tenth anniversary of the National Science Foundation's
Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA), a continent-wide radio telescope
that produces the most detailed images of any instrument available to
the world's astronomers. 

Nearly 200 scientists are presenting 160 research papers on topics
including geophysics, star and planet formation, supernova
explosions, galaxies, supermassive black holes, and future directions
of research and instrumentation in astronomy. The meeting is
sponsored by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO)  and
the  New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology (NM Tech). The
meeting is being held on the NM Tech campus in Socorro. 

"In ten years of operation, the VLBA has made landmark contributions
to astronomy. In this scientific meeting, we are acknowledging those
contributions and looking forward to an even more exciting future of
frontier research," said James Ulvestad, director of VLA/VLBA
operations for the NRAO. 

"The presentations at this meeting show that the VLBA is being used
to study a much broader range of astronomical objects than was
anticipated by its designers," said Prof. Roger Blandford of Caltech,
who delivered the meeting's opening Keynote Address.

Dedicated in 1993, the $85-million VLBA includes ten, 240-ton
radio-telescope antennas, ranging from Hawaii in the west to the U.S.
Virgin Islands in the east. Two are in New Mexico, one near Pie Town
in Catron County and the other at Los Alamos. The VLBA is operated
from the NRAO's Array Operations Center in Socorro. 

Acting like a giant eye 5,000 miles wide, the VLBA can produce the
sharpest images of any telescope on Earth or in space. Its ability to
see fine detail, called resolving power, is equivalent to being able
to stand in New York and read a newspaper in Los Angeles.

The VLBA's scientific achievements include making the most accurate
distance measurement ever made of an object beyond the Milky Way
Galaxy; the first mapping of the magnetic field of a star other than
the Sun; "movies" of motions in powerful cosmic jets and of distant
supernova explosions; the first measurement of the propagation speed
of gravity; and long-term measurements that have improved the
reference frame used to map the Universe and detect tectonic motions
of Earth's continents. 

In coming years, scientists plan to use the VLBA, along with other
radio-telescope facilities, to gain important new insights on
astronomical bodies ranging from nearby stars to the most distant
galaxies, seen as they were billions of years ago. The VLBA also will
help improve the celestial coordinate system used for spacecraft
navigation and other purposes. 

Blandford outlined a number of future research challenges, including
understanding how pulsars produce their powerful beams of light and
radio waves, learning how supermassive black holes and their nearby
environments produce superfast cosmic jets, trying to understand
solar bursts, using gravitational lenses to study the distant
Universe, and understanding the mechanisms of gamma ray bursts and
their "afterglows." 

"I am heartened to see the number of young astronomers at this
meeting who are using the VLBA and will use it to help answer these
important scientific questions," Blandford added.

Closer to home, the VLBA can be "turned around" to produce extremely
precise measurements on the Earth. This capability allows scientists
to study the motion of Earth's tectonic plates, to track "wobbles" in
our planet's rotation, and to measure subtle changes attributed to
atmospheric motions and climate change. 

The meeting in Socorro began June 8 and runs through June 12.

The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a facility of the
National Science Foundation, operated under cooperative agreement by
Associated Universities, Inc.

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