Researchers from South Korea are developing an innovative constellation of satellites called – Capella, which will provide unprecedented data on supermassive black holes. The idea belongs to Professor of Astronomy at Seoul National University Sasha Trippe. It seeks to overcome the limitations of modern tools, such as the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT), which cannot provide full detail due to technical limits.
IN 2019 2010, the world saw the first image of the black hole at the center of the Messier galaxy 87, a u 2022 year — of a black hole in our Milky Way galaxy. However, these images had low resolution and could not capture important details, such as jets, formed around black holes.
What Capella will change?
Capella will consist of four satellites in an orbit with an altitude of 450-600 km. Thanks to radio telescopes, installed on satellites, the system will be able to collect radio signals of high frequencies, which do not penetrate through the Earth's atmosphere. This will make it possible to obtain much better images of black holes, than the terrestrial EHT network.
Orbital telescopes will close the gaps in observations, which arise from the limitations of ground instruments. in addition, the location of satellites in orbit will allow us to obtain clearer and more detailed data on the structures around black holes, including jet formation processes.
Technological breakthrough
Modern technologies make it possible to create compact and relatively inexpensive radio telescopes, which can be installed on satellites weighing up to 500 Kg. According to Trippe, the project will cost approx 500 millions of dollars. The Korea Aerospace Exploration Agency has already expressed interest in Capella.
If the project is approved, the first data may appear as early as the early 2030s. This will allow not only to obtain more accurate estimates of the masses of black holes, and better understand the processes, happening on the event horizon.