Past exam of the physics A course of the University of Cambridge / 2015 / Paper 2 / Section A / 1 / b / Solution

At distance $L$, the small-angle approximation gives $\ell =L\theta$. Thus the transverse resolution is approximately $2.5\times 10^{10}\mathrm{m}$, or $3.0\times 10^{10}\mathrm{m}$ with the circular-aperture Rayleigh criterion. This is a transverse separation at the source, rather than a determination of its distance along the line of sight.