A technique that combines observations from multiple smaller telescopes to simulate the resolution of a much larger single telescope. By mathematically processing the interference patterns between telescopes, astronomers can reconstruct high-resolution images equivalent to having a giant telescope with aperture equal to the maximum separation between instruments.
From Latin 'apertura' (opening) and Greek 'synthesis' (putting together). Coined by radio astronomer Martin Ryle in the 1950s to describe how arrays of small radio telescopes could be combined to achieve the resolution of impossibly large single dishes, revolutionizing radio astronomy and earning him the Nobel Prize.
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