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. 196 314-333

Subject Categories

Other Computer and Information Science

Information Science

Computer Science

DOI

10.1016/j.actaastro.2022.04.020

More information

Latest update

9/15/2023