interferometer

American  

[in-ter-fuh-rom-i-ter] / ˌɪn tər fəˈrɒm ɪ tər /

noun

1. Optics. a device that separates a beam of light into two ray beams, usually by means of reflection, and that brings the rays together to produce interference, used to measure wavelength, index of refraction, and astronomical distances.

2. Astronomy. an instrument for measuring the angular separation of double stars or the diameter of giant stars by means of the interference phenomena of light emitted by these stars.

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interferometer British  

/ ˌɪntəˌfɛrəˈmɛtrɪk, ˌɪntəfəˈrɒmɪtə /

noun

1. physics any acoustic, optical, or microwave instrument that uses interference patterns or fringes to make accurate measurements of wavelength, wave velocity, distance, etc

2. astronomy a radio or optical array consisting of two or more telescopes separated by a known distance and connected so that the radiation from a source in space undergoes interference, enabling the source to be imaged or the position of the source to be accurately determined

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interferometer Scientific  

/ ĭn′tər-fə-rŏm′ĭ-tər /

1. Any of several optical, acoustic, or radio frequency instruments that use interference phenomena between a reference wave and an experimental wave or between two parts of an experimental wave to determine wavelengths and wave velocities, measure very small distances and thicknesses, and calculate indices of refraction.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• interferometric
  adjective
• interferometry
  noun
• interferometrically
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of interferometer

First recorded in 1895–1900; interfere + -o- + -meter

Example Sentences

In 2015, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, or LIGO, made history when it made the first direct detection of gravitational waves, or ripples in space and time, produced by a pair of colliding black holes.

From Science Daily • Oct. 23, 2023

The satellite’s primary tool is the Ka-band Radar Interferometer, or KaRIn.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 14, 2022

So much for successes like the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, which detected colliding black holes.

From New York Times • Dec. 23, 2019

Such “black hole spectroscopy” may have to wait for the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna, a much more sensitive space-based gravitational wave detector that scientists hope to launch in the early 2030s, Holz says.

From Science Magazine • Sep. 13, 2019

Interferometer measures, now in progress on Mount Wilson, indicate that its angular diameter is about 0.020 of a second.

From The New Heavens by Hale, George Ellery