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Each of the VLA’s 28 antennas (incl. the one that is a spare) is an 82-foot dish w/ 8 receivers tucked inside. The wider an array is, the bigger its eye is, and the more detail it can see out in space. The iconic “Y” shape provides 3 long arms, with 9 telescopes each. Three times a year, a rail truck, called a Transporter, picks up telescopes and hauls them one at a time down their track. Over the course of 16 months, the VLA lengthens each of its legs from two-thirds of a mile to 23 miles long.