Abstract
The Very Large Array (VLA) is an aperture synthesis radio telescope consisting of 27 antennas, each of 25m diameter. See, for example Napier et. al. [1] for a detailed description of the instrument. An instrument of this power and versatility is capable of an extremely high rate of data acquisition as will be described. Worse still, the data collected are not in the form of images (the form required by astronomers), but their Fourier transform. Details of this Fourier transform relationship is given by Bracewell [2], and Fomalont and Wright [3]. These two circumstances conspire to produce a unique data processing problem of considerable magnitude. This paper first describes the computing problems posed by the VLA, then goes on to discuss the methodologies that have been used to tackle them. Finally there is an outline of unresolved problems, and possible paths open in the future to help solve them.
The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is operated by Associated Universities, Inc. under contract with the National Science Foundation.
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References
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© 1986 Plenus Press, New York
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Moore, P. (1986). VLA: Methodological and Computational Requirements. In: Di Gesù, V., Scarsi, L., Crane, P., Friedman, J.H., Levialdi, S. (eds) Data Analysis in Astronomy II. Ettore Majorana International Science Series, vol 21. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-2249-8_11
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-2249-8_11
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