The Very Large Array is a major radio astronomy observatory on the Plains of San Agustin in central New Mexico and part of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory. Built in the 1970s and inaugurated in 1980, it uses 28 large dish antennas arranged on rail-mounted, Y-shaped arms so their spacing can be changed, allowing the system to function like a single giant instrument. Its observations have contributed to research on black holes, young stars, the Milky Way, other galaxies, and cosmology, and it also received Voyager 2 communications in 1989. Modernized between 2001 and 2012, it remains a leading scientific and public site.