The science case and challenges of space-borne sub-millimeter interferometry
Artikel i vetenskaplig tidskrift, 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
Författare
Gurvits
TU Delft
Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe (JIVE)
Zsolt Paragi
Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe (JIVE)
Amils
Observatorio de Yebes (IGN)
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, Rymd-, geo- och miljövetenskap, Onsala rymdobservatorium
Jordy Davelaar
Columbia University
Flatiron Institute
M. Carmen Diez-Gonzalez
Observatorio de Yebes (IGN)
Heino Falcke
Radboud Universiteit
Rob Fender
University of Oxford
Sandor 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 Garcia-Miro
Observatorio de Yebes (IGN)
Michael A. Garrett
University of Manchester
Universiteit Leiden
Marcello Giroletti
Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)
Ciriaco Goddi
Universita degli Studi di Cagliari
Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)
Jose L. Gomez
Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Jeffrey van der Gucht
Radboud Universiteit
Jose Carlos Guirado
Universitat de Valencia
Zoltan Haiman
Columbia University
Frank Helmich
Rijksuniversiteit Groningen
Ben Hudson
KISPE Space Systems Limited
Elizabeth Humphreys
European Southern Observatory (ESO)
Violette Impellizzeri
Universiteit Leiden
Michael Janssen
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
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-Gesellschaft
Michael Kramer
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
Michael Lindqvist
Chalmers, Rymd-, geo- och miljövetenskap, Onsala rymdobservatorium
Hendrik Linz
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
Elisabetta Liuzzo
Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)
Andrei P. Lobanov
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology
Isaac Lopez-Fernandez
Observatorio de Yebes (IGN)
Inmaculada Malo-Gomez
Observatorio de Yebes (IGN)
Kunal Masania
TU Delft
Yosuke Mizuno
Johann Wolfgang Goethe Universität Frankfurt am Main
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
Freek Roelofs
Radboud Universiteit
Harvard University
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Eduardo Ros
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
Kazi L. J. Rygl
Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)
Tuomas Savolainen
Aalto-Yliopisto
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
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
Observatorio de Yebes (IGN)
Pieter N. A. M. Visser
TU Delft
Martina C. Wiedner
Sorbonne Université
Maciek Wielgus
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
Kaj Wiik
Turun Yliopisto
J. Anton Zensus
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
Acta Astronautica
0094-5765 (ISSN)
Vol. 196 314-333Ämneskategorier
Annan data- och informationsvetenskap
Systemvetenskap
Datavetenskap (datalogi)
DOI
10.1016/j.actaastro.2022.04.020