Very Small Array
| Location(s) |
Teide Observatory  , Spain
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|---|---|
| Coordinates | 28°18′02″N 16°30′37″W / 28.3005°N 16.5103°WCoordinates: 28°18′02″N 16°30′37″W / 28.3005°N 16.5103°W |
| Organisation |
Cavendish Astrophysics Group, University of Cambridge, Jodrell Bank Observatory, Observatorio Astronómico de Canarias
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| Altitude | 2,500 m (8,200 ft) |
| Wavelength | 26–36GHz |
| Built | Installed December 1999 |
| Telescope style |
radio interferometer, Aperture synthesis
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| Angular resolution | 0.2—3 degrees |
| Mounting | Tip-table |
| Website | www |
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The Very Small Array (VSA) was a 14-element interferometric radio telescope operating between 26 and 36 GHz that is used to study the cosmic microwave background radiation. It was a collaboration between the University of Cambridge, University of Manchester and the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias (Tenerife), and was located at the Observatorio del Teide on Tenerife. The array was built at the Mullard Radio Astronomy Observatory by the Cavendish Astrophysics Group and Jodrell Bank Observatory, and was funded by PPARC (now STFC). The design was strongly based on the Cosmic Anisotropy Telescope.
The telescope was comparable in terms of capabilities to several other CMB experiments, including the balloon-based BOOMERanG and MAXIMA, and the ground-based DASI and CBI.
The telescope consists of 14 elements (yielding 91 baselines), each of which have a horn reflector antenna focusing astrophysical signals into individual receivers (pseudomorphic HFET amplifiers, with a system temperature around 25 K and a physical temperature of 12 K, based on an NRAO design). The separate elements are combined using a correlator to form an aperture synthesis array. The elements are mounted on a tip-table, which is capable of tracking the sky and can tilt up to 35 degrees from the zenith.
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