In: Physics
6. The Very Long Baseline Array radio interferometer (VLBA) has a longest baseline of 8000 km and can operate at frequencies as high as 44 GHz. The Keck interferometer has a baseline of 100 m and operates at a near-infrared wavelength of 2 micron. (a) Which instrument has the highest angular resolution (smallest diffraction angle)? (b) For the VLBA, what is the smallest distance two radio transmitters could be on the Moon that could still be discerned? Use a lunar distance of 384,000 km.