Astrophysics (Index)About

u-v plane

(uv plane)
(plane for displaying Fourier transforms of signal from the sky)

A u-v plane is a geometric plane defined to conceptualize the analysis/processing of interferometer observations, for which the Cartesian axes are conventionally termed u and v. The plane's attitude within geometric space is tangent to the celestial sphere at the position of the astronomical object under observation, with v virtually always chosen to point northward, the axes scaled using the observation's wavelength as their unit of distance. Its purpose is to represent/analyze/display a Fourier transform of the signal from that portion of the sky, which corresponds to the interferometer correlator output (visibilities), per the van Cittert-Zernike theorem. In such discussions, the corresponding plane of the actual signal (i.e., the plane of the sky) is termed the l-m plane, I presume to stand for latitude and meridian. Aperture synthesis can be described as determining the signal from the l-m plane based upon the input data expressed in the u-v plane.


(interferometry)
Further reading:
https://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/uv+-plane
https://www.atnf.csiro.au/research/radio-school/2014/talks/ATNF2014-Intro.pdf
https://science.nrao.edu/opportunities/courses/casa-caltech-winter2012/Isella_Radio_Interferometry_Basics_Caltech2012.pdf
https://science.nrao.edu/facilities/alma/naasc-workshops/CDE_CASA_imaging.pdf

Referenced by pages:
Fourier space
visibility

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