Field of View and Size of Antennas
• If primary beam of antenna is >> solar diameter, then
imaging is easy.
• If primary beam of antenna is << solar diameter, imaging
of small regions in the disk is relatively easy.
• If primary beam of antenna is comparable to the solar
diameter, good imaging is hard.
– Pointing is most critical
– Short spacing measurements become very important for good
imaging
– Short spacing measurements are hard to obtain in this regime
(can’t get the antennas close enough together).
• Calibration may set a minimum size of antenna.
• An important design choice, tied to array configuration.