Rick Perley (NRAO)

The Expanded Very Large Array Project - Dr Rick Perley Colloquium

ATNF Marsfield Lecture Theatre

Abstract

The Very Large Array was completed in 1980, and operated for twenty years with essentially no changes to the 1970s era technology on which is was based, other than some improved receivers and new frequency bands. By the 1990s, it was clear that incremental, individual improvements to the data transmission system, RF/IF electronics, and correlator would not be the optimal way to obtain significant improvements in the VLA's scientific capabilities. Rather, a comprehensive plan to completely redesign the entire electronics and data processing system was the appropriate approach. The EVLA Project is the result of this comprehensive plan, whose basic goals are to improve the technical capabilities of the VLA by a factor of ten in every major observational characteristic: Sensitivity, Frequency Coverage, Frequency Resolution, and Spatial Resolution, plus to provide major improvements in Imaging Capabilities and Data Access. The EVLA Project is in fact a major upgrade of the world's most productive and powerful radio telescope. It is a leveraged project, combining a sound existing array with the benefits of new technologies in signal transmission and data processing to provide fabulous new capabilities at a small fraction of the cost of an entirely new facility. In this talk, I will review the major specific goals of the project, its current progress and status, and anticipated timeline for availability new capabilities prior to its completion in 2012.