The Life and Times of the Parkes-Tidbinbilla Interferometer

TL;DR

The paper discusses the development, success, and legacy of the Parkes-Tidbinbilla interferometer, an early real-time radio interferometer that contributed significantly to radio astronomy and paved the way for future large-scale arrays.

Contribution

It provides a detailed historical account of the first real-time interferometer, highlighting its innovative use of existing infrastructure and its influence on subsequent radio telescope projects.

Findings

Produced 24 journal papers including 3 in Nature

Facilitated development of the Australia Telescope Compact Array

Demonstrated the feasibility of real-time radio interferometry

Abstract

The Parkes-Tidbinbilla took advantage of a real-time radio-link connecting the Parkes and Tidbinbilla antennas to form the world's longest real-time interferometer, perhaps the earliest example of eVLBI. Built on a minuscule budget, it was an extraordinarily successful instrument, generating some 24 journal papers including 3 Nature papers, as well as facilitating the early development of the Australia Telescope Compact Array. Here we describe its origins, construction, successes, and life cycle, and discuss the future use of single-baseline interferometers in the era of SKA and its pathfinders.