astronomy

Sydney University Stellar Interferometer

Sydney University Stellar Interferometer is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Sydney University Stellar Interferometer rather than just read about it. In short: The Sydney University Stellar Interferometer (SUSI) was an optical long baseline interferometer owned by The University of Sydney. It was located in the Paul Wild Observatory, 20 km west of Narrabri town in New South Wales, Australia.

Key takeaways

Sydney University Stellar Interferometer belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Sydney University Stellar Interferometer to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Sydney University Stellar Interferometer from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Sydney University Stellar Interferometer (SUSI) was an optical long baseline interferometer owned by The University of Sydney. It was located in the Paul Wild Observatory, 20 km west of Narrabri town in New South Wales, Australia. SUSI was initially proposed by Australian astronomer John Davis in 1985, who led the project through to completion in 1993 and past his retirement in 1996 until his death in 2010. From then until its closure in 2017 it was led by Peter Tuthill, and used as a test facility for instruments for the CHARA Array. The interferometer had several siderostats, which collected and reflected starlight into the optical laboratory for interferometry via two vacuum pipes. Although mirrors at the siderostats were 20 cm in diameter, the effective aperture size was 14 cm as they operated at angles of about 45°. By selecting the different siderostats at different distances, the baseline of the interferometer could be varied between 5m and 640m. With beam-combining instruments that operated at visible wavelengths (~550-850 nm), SUSI had an angular resolution of up to ~0.7mas (milliarcseconds).

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Sydney University Stellar Interferometer

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Sydney University Stellar Interferometer claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Sydney University Stellar Interferometer before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Sydney University Stellar Interferometer ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Sydney University Stellar Interferometer

In research: Sydney University Stellar Interferometer appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Sydney University Stellar Interferometer in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Sydney University Stellar Interferometer is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Astronomical observatory stubs, Interferometers, Optical telescopes, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Sydney University Stellar Interferometer outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Sydney University Stellar Interferometer in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Sydney University Stellar Interferometer means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Sydney University Stellar Interferometer out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Sydney University Stellar Interferometer in simple terms?

Why does Sydney University Stellar Interferometer matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Sydney University Stellar Interferometer?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Sydney University Stellar Interferometer.