Radio interferometry has the potential of synchronizing clocks across intercontinental distances with accuracies better than one nanosecond. One of the potential error sources in such determinations is the spatial structure of the natural radio sources that provide the reference signals. Due to their extent, the effective position of these sources can vary as a function of the length and orientation of the baseline vector joining the two antennas. If they are not corrected, such variations can lead to errors in clock synchronization. The theory of structure corrections is presented and specific examples are given to illustrate the nature and size of the effect.

Source structure errors in the synchronization of clocks by radio interferometry

The effects of source structure on radio interferometry measurements were investigated. The brightness distribution measurements for ten extragalactic sources were analyzed. Significant results are reported.

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J. B. Thomas

Papers

Source structure errors in radio-interferometric clock synchronization for ten measured distributions