The Black Hole Explorer: Instrument System Overview
Daniel P. Marrone (1), Janice Houston (2), Kazunori Akiyama (3, 4, and 5), Bryan Bilyeu (6), Don Boroson (6), Paul Grimes (2), Kari Haworth (2),, Robert Lehmensiek (7), Eliad Peretz (8), Hannah Rana (2, 5), Laura C., Sinclair (9), Sridharan Tirupati Kumara (7)

TL;DR
The Black Hole Explorer (BHEX) is a space VLBI mission concept designed to study supermassive black holes with unprecedented resolution by combining space-based and ground-based millimeter-wave interferometry, focusing on the photon ring and black hole physics.
Contribution
This paper presents the instrument system overview for BHEX, detailing the dual-band coherent receiver, antenna design, and data transmission system for space-based VLBI observations.
Findings
Design of a dual-band, 80-320 GHz receiver system
Implementation of laser data link for high-bandwidth data transmission
Baseline instrument concept addressing sensitivity and coherence challenges
Abstract
The Black Hole Explorer (BHEX) is a space very-long-baseline interferometry (VLBI) mission concept that is currently under development. BHEX will study supermassive black holes at unprecedented resolution, isolating the signature of the "photon ring" - light that has orbited the black hole before escaping - to probe physics at the edge of the observable universe. It will also measure black hole spins, study the energy extraction and acceleration mechanisms for black hole jets, and characterize the black hole mass distribution. BHEX achieves high angular resolution by joining with ground-based millimeter-wavelength VLBI arrays, extending the size, and therefore improving the angular resolution of the earthbound telescopes. Here we discuss the science instrument concept for BHEX. The science instrument for BHEX is a dual-band, coherent receiver system for 80-320 GHz, coupled to a…
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Taxonomy
TopicsMechanics and Biomechanics Studies · Adaptive optics and wavefront sensing
