An Event Horizon Imager(EHI) Mission Concept Utilizing Medium Earth Orbit Sub-mm Interferometry

作     者：KUDRIASHOV V MARTIN-NEIRA M ROELOFS F FALCKE H BRINKERINK C BARYSHEV A HOGERHEIJDE M YOUNG A POURSHAGHAGHI H KLEIN-WOLT M MOSCIBRODZKA M DAVELAAR J BARAT I DUESMANN B VALENTA V PERDIGUES ARMENGOL J M DE WILDE D MARTIN IGLESIAS P ALAGHA N VAN DER VORST M KUDRIASHOV V;MARTIN-NEIRA M;ROELOFS F;FALCKE H;BRINKERINK C;BARYSHEV A;HOGERHEIJDE M;YOUNG A;POURSHAGHAGHI H;KLEIN-WOLT M;MOSCIBRODZKA M;DAVELAAR J;BARAT I;DUESMANN B;VALENTA V;PERDIGUES ARMENGOL J M;DE WILDE D;MARTIN IGLESIAS P;ALAGHA N;VAN DER VORST M

作者机构：Department of Astrophysics/IMAPPRadboud University NijmegenP.O.Box 90106500 GL Nijmegenthe Netherlands ESTEC/ESAKeplerlaan 12201 A2 Noordurigkthe Netherlands Mar Planck Institute for Radio AstrornyAuf dem Higel 69D-53121 Bon(Endenich)Germany University of GroningenLandleven 129747 AD Groningenthe Netherlands Leiden ObservatoryLeiden UniversityPO Box 95132300 RALeidenthe Netherlands Anton Pannekoek Institute for AstronomyUniversity of AmsterdamScience Park 9041098 XHAmsterdamthe Netherlands Center for Computational AstrophysicsFlatiron Institute162 Fifth AvenueNew YorkNY 10010USA 

出 版 物：《空间科学学报》 (Chinese Journal of Space Science)

年 卷 期：2021年第41卷第2期

页      面：211-233页

核心收录：

学科分类：083002[工学-环境工程] 0830[工学-环境科学与工程（可授工学、理学、农学学位）] 08[工学] 09[农学] 0804[工学-仪器科学与技术] 0903[农学-农业资源与环境] 082503[工学-航空宇航制造工程] 0816[工学-测绘科学与技术] 081602[工学-摄影测量与遥感] 0825[工学-航空宇航科学与技术] 081102[工学-检测技术与自动化装置] 0811[工学-控制科学与工程] 

基　　金：partly supported by the Project NPI-552 “Space-to-space Interferometer System to Image the Event Horizon of the Super Massive Black Hole in the Center of Our Galaxy” co-funded by the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Radboud University of Nijmegen (ESA contract 4000122812) by the NWO project PIPP “Breakthrough Technologies for Interferometry in Space” 

主　　题：Instrumentation Space VLBI Radio Telescopes 

摘      要：Submillimeter interferometry has the potential to image supermassive black holes on event horizon scales,providing tests of the theory of general relativity and increasing our understanding of black hole accretion *** Event Horizon Telescope(EHT) performs these observations from the ground,and its main imaging targets are Sagittarius A~* in the Galactic Center and the black hole at the center of the M87 ***,the EHT is fundamentally limited in its performance by atmospheric effects and sparse terrestrial(u,v)-coverage(Fourier sampling of the image).The scientific interest in quantitative studies of the horizon size and shape of these black holes has motivated studies into using space interferometry which is free of these *** resolution considerations and interstellar scattering effects push the desired observing frequency to bands above 500 *** paper presents the requirements for meeting these science goals,describes the concept of interferometry from Polar or Equatorial Medium Earth Orbits(PECMEO) which we dub the Event Horizon Imager(EHI),and utilizes suitable space technology *** this concept,two or three satellites orbit at slightly different orbital radii,resulting in a dense and uniform spiral-shaped(u,v)-coverage over *** local oscillator signals are shared via an inter-satellite link,and the data streams are correlated on-board before final processing on the ***-satellite metrology and satellite positioning are extensively employed to facilitate the knowledge of the instrument position vector,and its time *** European space heritage usable for both the front ends and the antenna technology of such an instrument is *** and future sensors for the required inter-satellite metrology are *** performance estimates and simulation results are given.