Interferometry and Aperture Synthesis

Abstract

The basics of interferometry are covered in these lectures. We first discuss a simple interferometer and show that the output is proportional to the Fourier transform of the sky brightness. This leads to the concept of aperture synthesis. The geometrical effects of Earth rotation. the idea of fringe frequency and the resolution or (u,v) plane are then discussed. Finally the formation of images from interferometer data is outlined. The appendix contains a description of further complicating effects which limit the field of view of practical interferometers.