Very Large Array antennae. Fisheye view at night of dish antennae which make up the Very Large Array (VLA) radio telescope near Socorro, New Mexico, USA. The VLA is the world's largest radio telescope array, consisting of 27 dish antennae, each 25 metres in diameter. The total weight of each antenna is 235 tonnes. The dishes can be moved to various positions along the arms of a Y- shaped railway network. Two of the arms are 21 km in length, the third is 19 km. The data from all the dishes can be combined using interferometry techniques to produce a single finest-detail radio image, the 27 antennae effectively forming one giant 27 kilometre radio dish.