The science case and challenges of spaceborne sub-millimeter interferometry: the study case of TeraHertz Exploration and Zooming-in for Astrophysics (THEZA)

L. I. Gurvits; Z. Paragi; Ricardo I. Amils; I. van Bemmel; Paul Boven; V. Casasola; John Conway; Jordy Davelaar; M. Carmen Díez-González; H.D. Falcke; R. P. Fender; Sándor Frey; Christian M. Fromm; Juan D. Gallego-Puyol; Cristina García-Miró; M. A. Garrett; M. Giroletti; C. Goddi; J. L. Gomez; Jeffrey van der Gucht; J. C. Guirado; Zoltán Haiman; F. Helmich; Ben Hudson; E. Humphreys; C. M. V. Impellizzeri; Michael Janssen; Michael D. Johnson; Yuri Y. Kovalev; M. Kramer; Michael Lindqvist; H. Linz; Elisabetta Liuzzo; A. P. Lobanov; I. Lopez-Fernandez; Inmaculada Malo-Gómez; Kunal Masania; Yosuke Mizuno; Alexander V. Plavin; Raj T. Rajan; Luciano Rezzolla; F. Roelofs; Eduardo Ros; Kazi L.J. Rygl; T. Savolainen; K. Schuster; T. Venturi; Harro Verkouter; P. de Vicente; Pieter N.A.M. Visser; M.C. Wiedner; M. Wielgus; K. Wiik; A.J. Zensus

The science case and challenges of spaceborne sub-millimeter interferometry: the study case of TeraHertz Exploration and Zooming-in for Astrophysics (THEZA)
Paper i proceeding, 2021

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 super-massive black hole in the nucleus of the radio galaxy M87 by the millimeter VLBI system Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) 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 microrcseconds (0.05−0.1 nanoradian). Angular resolution is proportional to the observing wavelength and inversely proportional to the interferometer baseline length. In the case of Earth-based EHT, the highest angular resolution was achieved by combining the shortest possible wavelength of 1.3 mm with the longest possible baselines, comparable to the Earth’s diameter. For RadioAstron, operational wavelengths were in the range from 92 cm down to 1.3 cm, but the baselines were as long as ∼350,000 km. However, these two highlights of radio astronomy, EHT and RadioAstron do not”saturate” the interest to further increase in angular resolution. Quite opposite: the science case for further increase in angular resolution of astrophysical studies becomes even stronger. A natural and, in fact, the only possible way of moving forward is to enhance mm/sub-mm VLBI by extending baselines to extraterrestrial dimensions, i.e. creating a mm/sub-mm Space VLBI system. The inevitable move toward space-borne mm/sub-mm VLBI is a subject of several concept studies. In this presentation we will focus on one of them called TeraHertz Exploration and Zooming-in for Astrophysics (THEZA), prepared in response to the ESA’s call for its next major science program Voyage 2050 (Gurvits et al. 2021). The THEZA rationale is focused at the physics of spacetime in the vicinity of super-massive black holes as the leading science drive. However, it will also open up a sizable new range of hitherto unreachable parameters of observational radio astrophysics and create a multi-disciplinary scientific facility and offer a high degree of synergy with prospective “single dish” space-borne sub-mm astronomy (e.g., Wiedner et al. 2021) and infrared interferometry (e.g., Linz et al. 2021). As an amalgam of several major trends of modern observational astrophysics, THEZA aims at facilitating a breakthrough in high-resolution high image quality astronomical studies.

VLBI

Spaceborne astrophysics

Radio interferometry

Mm- and sub-mm astronomy

Författare

L. I. Gurvits

TU Delft

Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe (JIVE)

Z. Paragi

Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe (JIVE)

Ricardo I. Amils

Observatorio de Yebes (IGN)

I. van Bemmel

Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe (JIVE)

Paul Boven

Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe (JIVE)

V. Casasola

Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)

John Conway

Chalmers, Rymd-, geo- och miljövetenskap, Onsala rymdobservatorium

Forskning Andra publikationer

Jordy Davelaar

Columbia University

Flatiron Institute

M. Carmen Díez-González

Observatorio de Yebes (IGN)

H.D. Falcke

Radboud Universiteit

R. P. Fender

University of Oxford

Sándor Frey

Magyar Tudomanyos Akademia

Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE)

Christian M. Fromm

Johann Wolfgang Goethe Universität Frankfurt am Main

Juan D. Gallego-Puyol

Observatorio de Yebes (IGN)

Cristina García-Miró

Observatorio de Yebes (IGN)

M. A. Garrett

Universiteit Leiden

University of Manchester

M. Giroletti

Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)

C. Goddi

Radboud Universiteit

J. L. Gomez

Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucía (IAA)

Jeffrey van der Gucht

Radboud Universiteit

J. C. Guirado

Universitat de Valencia

Zoltán Haiman

Columbia University

F. Helmich

Rijksuniversiteit Groningen

Netherlands Institute for Space Research (SRON)

Ben Hudson

KISPE Space Systems Limited

E. Humphreys

European Southern Observatory (ESO)

C. M. V. Impellizzeri

Universiteit Leiden

Michael Janssen

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft

Michael D. Johnson

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

Harvard University

Yuri Y. Kovalev

Russian Academy of Sciences

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft

Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology

M. Kramer

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft

Michael Lindqvist

Chalmers, Rymd-, geo- och miljövetenskap, Onsala rymdobservatorium

Forskning Andra publikationer

H. Linz

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft

Elisabetta Liuzzo

Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)

A. P. Lobanov

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft

I. Lopez-Fernandez

Observatorio de Yebes (IGN)

Inmaculada Malo-Gómez

Observatorio de Yebes (IGN)

Kunal Masania

TU Delft

Yosuke Mizuno

Johann Wolfgang Goethe Universität Frankfurt am Main

Alexander V. Plavin

Russian Academy of Sciences

Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology

Raj T. Rajan

TU Delft

Luciano Rezzolla

Johann Wolfgang Goethe Universität Frankfurt am Main

F. Roelofs

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

Eduardo Ros

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft

Kazi L.J. Rygl

Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)

T. Savolainen

Aalto-Yliopisto

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft

K. Schuster

Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)

T. Venturi

Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)

Harro Verkouter

Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe (JIVE)

P. de Vicente

Observatorio de Yebes (IGN)

Pieter N.A.M. Visser

TU Delft

M.C. Wiedner

Observatoire de Paris

M. Wielgus

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft

K. Wiik

Tuorla Observatory

A.J. Zensus

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft

Proceedings of the International Astronautical Congress, IAC

00741795 (ISSN)

Vol. A7
9781713843009 (ISBN)

IAF Symposium on Ongoing and Near Future Space Astronomy and Solar-System Science Missions 2021 at the 72nd International Astronautical Congress, IAC 2021
Dubai, United Arab Emirates,

Ämneskategorier

Acceleratorfysik och instrumentering

Astronomi, astrofysik och kosmologi

Annan fysik

Mer information

Senast uppdaterat

2023-10-10

The science case and challenges of spaceborne sub-millimeter interferometry: the study case of TeraHertz Exploration and Zooming-in for Astrophysics (THEZA) Paper i proceeding, 2021

Författare

L. I. Gurvits

Z. Paragi

Ricardo I. Amils

I. van Bemmel

Paul Boven

V. Casasola

John Conway

Jordy Davelaar

M. Carmen Díez-González

H.D. Falcke

R. P. Fender

Sándor Frey

Christian M. Fromm

Juan D. Gallego-Puyol

Cristina García-Miró

M. A. Garrett

M. Giroletti

C. Goddi

J. L. Gomez

Jeffrey van der Gucht

J. C. Guirado

Zoltán Haiman

F. Helmich

Ben Hudson

E. Humphreys

C. M. V. Impellizzeri

Michael Janssen

Michael D. Johnson

Yuri Y. Kovalev

M. Kramer

Michael Lindqvist

H. Linz

Elisabetta Liuzzo

A. P. Lobanov

I. Lopez-Fernandez

Inmaculada Malo-Gómez

Kunal Masania

Yosuke Mizuno

Alexander V. Plavin

Raj T. Rajan

Luciano Rezzolla

F. Roelofs

Eduardo Ros

Kazi L.J. Rygl

T. Savolainen

K. Schuster

T. Venturi

Harro Verkouter

P. de Vicente

Pieter N.A.M. Visser

M.C. Wiedner

M. Wielgus

K. Wiik

A.J. Zensus

Proceedings of the International Astronautical Congress, IAC

Ämneskategorier

Mer information

Senast uppdaterat

The science case and challenges of spaceborne sub-millimeter interferometry: the study case of TeraHertz Exploration and Zooming-in for Astrophysics (THEZA)
Paper i proceeding, 2021