The science case and challenges of space-borne sub-millimeter interferometry
Journal article, 2022
Ultra-high angular resolution in astronomy has always been an important vehicle for making fundamental discoveries. Recent results in direct imaging of the vicinity of the supermassive black hole in the nucleus of the radio galaxy M87 by the millimeter VLBI system Event Horizon Telescope and various pioneering results of the Space VLBI mission RadioAstron provided new momentum in high angular resolution astrophysics. In both mentioned cases, the angular resolution reached the values of about 10???20 microarcseconds (0.05???0.1 nanoradian). Further developments towards at least an order of magnitude ???sharper???values, at the level of 1 microarcsecond are dictated by the needs of advanced astrophysical studies. The paper emphasis that these higher values can only be achieved by placing millimeter and submillimeter wavelength interferometric systems in space. A concept of such the system, called Terahertz Exploration and Zooming-in for Astrophysics, has been proposed in the framework of the ESA Call for White Papers for the Voyage 2050 long term plan in 2019. In the current paper we present new science objectives for such the concept based on recent results in studies of active galactic nuclei and supermassive black holes. We also discuss several approaches for addressing technological challenges of creating a millimeter/sub-millimeter wavelength interferometric system in space. In particular, we consider a novel configuration of a space-borne millimeter/sub-millimeter antenna which might resolve several bottlenecks in creating large precise mechanical structures. The paper also presents an overview of prospective space-qualified technologies of low-noise analogue front-end instrumentation for millimeter/sub-millimeter telescopes. Data handling and processing instrumentation is another key technological component of a sub-millimeter Space VLBI system. Requirements and possible implementation options for this instrumentation are described as an extrapolation of the current state-of-the-art Earth-based VLBI data transport and processing instrumentation. The paper also briefly discusses approaches to the interferometric baseline state vector determination and synchronisation and heterodyning system. The technology-oriented sections of the paper do not aim at presenting a complete set of technological solutions for sub-millimeter (terahertz) space-borne interferometers. Rather, in combination with the original ESA Voyage 2050 White Paper, it sharpens the case for the next generation microarcsecond-level imaging instruments and provides starting points for further in-depth technology trade-off studies.
VLBI
Millimeter and sub-millimeter astronomy
Radio interferometry
Space-borne astrophysics
Author
Gurvits
Delft University of Technology
Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe (JIVE)
Zsolt Paragi
Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe (JIVE)
Amils
Yebes Observatory
Ilse van Bemmel
Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe (JIVE)
Paul Boven
Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe (JIVE)
Viviana Casasola
Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)
John Conway
Chalmers, Space, Earth and Environment, Onsala Space Observatory
Jordy Davelaar
Columbia University
Flatiron Institute
M. Carmen Diez-Gonzalez
Yebes Observatory
Heino Falcke
Radboud University
Rob Fender
University of Oxford
Sandor Frey
Hungarian Academy of Sciences
Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE)
Christian M. Fromm
Goethe University Frankfurt
Juan D. Gallego-Puyol
Yebes Observatory
Cristina Garcia-Miro
Yebes Observatory
Michael A. Garrett
University of Manchester
Leiden University
Marcello Giroletti
Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)
Ciriaco Goddi
University of Cagliari
Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)
Jose L. Gomez
Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)
Jeffrey van der Gucht
Radboud University
Jose Carlos Guirado
Universitat de Valencia
Zoltan Haiman
Columbia University
Frank Helmich
University of Groningen
Ben Hudson
KISPE Space Systems Limited
Elizabeth Humphreys
European Southern Observatory (ESO)
Violette Impellizzeri
Leiden University
Michael Janssen
Max Planck Society
Michael D. Johnson
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Harvard University
Yuri Y. Kovalev
Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology
Russian Academy of Sciences
Max Planck Society
Michael Kramer
Max Planck Society
Michael Lindqvist
Chalmers, Space, Earth and Environment, Onsala Space Observatory
Hendrik Linz
Max Planck Society
Elisabetta Liuzzo
Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)
Andrei P. Lobanov
Max Planck Society
Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology
Isaac Lopez-Fernandez
Yebes Observatory
Inmaculada Malo-Gomez
Yebes Observatory
Kunal Masania
Delft University of Technology
Yosuke Mizuno
Goethe University Frankfurt
Plavin
Russian Academy of Sciences
Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology
Raj T. Rajan
Delft University of Technology
Luciano Rezzolla
Goethe University Frankfurt
Freek Roelofs
Radboud University
Harvard University
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Eduardo Ros
Max Planck Society
Kazi L. J. Rygl
Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)
Tuomas Savolainen
Aalto University
Max Planck Society
Karl Schuster
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
Tiziana Venturi
Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)
Marjolein Verkouter
Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe (JIVE)
Pablo de Vicente
Yebes Observatory
Pieter N. A. M. Visser
Delft University of Technology
Martina C. Wiedner
Sorbonne University
Maciek Wielgus
Max Planck Society
Kaj Wiik
University of Turku
J. Anton Zensus
Max Planck Society
Acta Astronautica
0094-5765 (ISSN)
Vol. 196 314-333Subject Categories
Other Computer and Information Science
Information Science
Computer Science
DOI
10.1016/j.actaastro.2022.04.020