The primary reason for spreading many radio telescopes across a large area and combining the signals at a central station is to
A) produce much sharper images of radio sources.
B) ensure that cloudy weather affects only a few of the telescopes, leaving the others to continue observing.
C) avoid interference between signals from the separate telescopes.
D) collect more radiation than would be possible with the same telescopes clustered together.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The primary reason for spreading many radio telescopes across a large area and combining the signals at a central station, a technique known as interferometry, is to produce much sharper images of radio sources. This effectively creates a telescope with a diameter as large as the separation between the individual telescopes, greatly improving the resolution of the images obtained.

The Primary Reason for Spreading Many Radio Telescopes Across a Large