The Table Mountain 8-mm wavelength interferometer

Abstract

A two-element radio interferometer operating at 8.33-mm wavelength has been developed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Table Mountain Observatory near Wrightwood, CA. The interferometer employs a 5.5-m and a 3-m diameter antenna on an east-west baseline of 60 or 120 m, yielding fringe spacings at transit of 28 or 14 arcsec, respectively. The broad intermediate-frequency bandpass of 100-350 MHz and the system noise temperature of 500 K provide high sensitivity for the measurement of continuum sources. The interferometer has been used for high-resolution studies of the planets and the sun, and it is currently being adapted to study solar flare emissions at high spatial and time resolution.