The quest for high resolution has preoccupied radio astronomers ever since radio waves were first detected from space fifty years ago. This venture was par ticularly stimulated by the discovery of quasars, and led to the development of interferometer techniques using baselines of transglobal dimensions. These meth ods have become known as Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI). Arrays of radio telescopes situated all over the Earth (or even in space) are regularly used for researches in radio astronomy, reaching resolutions as small as a fraction of a milli arcsecond. The technique also...

The quest for high resolution has preoccupied radio astronomers ever since radio waves were first detected from space fifty years ago. This venture was par ticularly stimulated by the discovery of quasars, and led to the development of interferometer techniques using baselines of transglobal dimensions. These meth ods have become known as Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI). Arrays of radio telescopes situated all over the Earth (or even in space) are regularly used for researches in radio astronomy, reaching resolutions as small as a fraction of a milli arcsecond. The technique also...