Aperture Synthesis on the UV Plane
Five real telescopes (ALMA, VLA, Effelsberg, Metsahovi, JCMT) trace UV-plane arcs as Earth rotates; the dirty image of a three-source sky model sharpens in real time via direct inverse Fourier transform. Drag a telescope to a new latitude, watch its arcs change, and see the resolution improve.
WHAT TO TRY
- Drag a telescope to a different latitude: its UV-plane arc changes shape as Earth rotation sweeps the baseline, and the dirty image of the three-source sky re-sharpens.
- Watch the arcs fill in over a rotation: each baseline traces an ellipse in the UV plane, and the image is the direct inverse Fourier transform of that sampled coverage.
- Compare a compact array against a spread-out one: long baselines add fine detail, short ones capture extended structure. The gaps in coverage are what blur the dirty image.