COAST, the Cambridge Optical Aperture Synthesis Telescope, is a multi-element optical interferometer with baselines of up to 100 metres, designed to observe stars with angular resolution as high as one thousandth of one arcsecond (much higher resolution than can be obtained with individual telescopes such as the Hubble Space Telescope). The principal limitation is that COAST can only image bright stars. COAST obtained the first high-resolution images of the surfaces of stars other than our sun. Interferometry is the applied science of combining two or more input points of a particular data type, such as optical measurements, to form a greater picture based on the combination of the two sources. ... A second of arc or arcsecond is a unit of angular measurement which comprises one-sixtieth of an arcminute, or 1/3600 of a degree of arc or 1/1296000 ≈ 7. ... The Hubble Space Telescope is a telescope in orbit around the Earth. ... The Pleiades star cluster A star is any massive gaseous body in outer space, just like the Sun. ...
The COAST array is operated by the Cavendish Astrophysics Group, and is situated at the Mullard Radio Astronomy Observatory. The Cavendish Astrophysics Group (formerly the Radio Astronomy Group) is based at the Cavendish Laboratory at Cambridge University. ... Mullard Radio Astronomy Observatory is home to a number of large aperture synthesis radio telescopes, including the One-Mile and 5km instruments. ...
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COAST
The first high-resolution optical images of the surfaces of distant stars
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