A technique that combines light or radio waves from multiple telescopes to create a virtual telescope with the resolution of a much larger single instrument. By analyzing the interference patterns between signals, astronomers can achieve angular resolution impossible with individual telescopes.
From Latin 'inter' (between) and 'ferre' (to carry), plus Greek 'metron' (measure) - literally 'measuring between carriers.' The concept originated with 19th-century physics experiments on light interference, but astronomical applications began in the 1920s when radio astronomy revealed the potential for combining signals from separated antennas.
Interferometry is like having superhuman vision - by combining telescopes separated by kilometers, astronomers can resolve details as small as reading a newspaper on the Moon! The technique is so powerful that radio interferometers spanning continents can achieve resolution 1000 times better than the Hubble Space Telescope, which is how we got our first image of a black hole's event horizon.
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