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Science 21 October 1977:
Vol. 198. no. 4314, pp. 289 - 291
DOI: 10.1126/science.198.4314.289
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Articles

Real-Time, Very-Long-Baseline Interferometry Based on the Use of a Communications Satellite

J. L. YEN 1, K. I. KELLERMANN 2, BENNO RAYHRER 2, N. W. BROTEN 3, D. N. FORT 3, S. H. KNOWLES 4, W. B. WALTMAN 4, and G. W. SWENSON JR. 5

1 Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 1A4
2 National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Green Bank, West Virginia 24944
3 Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics, National Research Council, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada KIA OR6
4 Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, D.C. 20375
5 Astronomy and Electrical Engineering Departments, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana 61801

The Hermes satellite, a joint Canadian-American program, has been used to provide a communication channel between radio telescopes in West Virginia and Ontario, for very-long-baseline interferometry (VLBI). This system makes possible instantaneous correlation of the data as well as a sensitivity substantially better than that of earlier VLBI systems, by virtue of a broader observational bandwidth. With the use of a geostationary communications satellite it is possible to eliminate the tape recorders and the most troublesome part of the postobservational data processing. A further possibility is the development of a phase-coherent interferometer.

Submitted on February 28, 1977
Revised on April 5, 1977


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
The Very Long Baseline Array.
K. I. Kellermann and A. R. Thompson (1985)
Science 229, 123-130
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