Martin Ryle developed aperture synthesis in radio astronomy. Signals from separated antennas provide spatial information at different baselines; combining those measurements reconstructs source structure with resolving power associated with a much larger aperture.
Earth rotation changes the projected baseline geometry, increasing the available spatial samples. Ryle's Nobel lecture explains how this principle and its instrumental realization made high-resolution radio imaging possible without filling the entire effective aperture with collecting material.[ref]
Radio Telescopes of Large Resolving Power by Martin Ryle. Nobel lecture: interferometry, aperture synthesis and rotation synthesis
Portrait of Martin Ryle
. Woodruff T. Sullivan III; NRAO/AUI Archives, Sullivan Collection; rights NRAO/AUI/NSF. CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Source. Articles by others on the same topic
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Martin Ryle was a renowned British radio astronomer, best known for his pioneering contributions to the field of astrophysics and for developing techniques that advanced radio telescope technology. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1974, along with Antony Hewish, for their work in the field of radio astronomy, particularly for their contributions to the development of a new type of telescope that allowed for the study of celestial objects.