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The Black Hole Explorer: motivation and vision

Citation:

Johnson, Michael, Kazunori Akiyama, Rebecca Baturin, Bryan Bilyeu, Lindy Blackburn, Don Boroson, Alejandro Cárdenas-Avendaño, and et al. “The Black Hole Explorer: motivation and vision.” In Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2024: Optical, Infrared, and Millimeter Wave. Yokohama, Japan, In Preparation.
The Black Hole Explorer: motivation and vision

Abstract:

We present the motivation and vision for the Black Hole Explorer (BHEX), a mission that will extend submillimeter Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) to space. BHEX, currently under formulation for a NASA Small Explorer mission, will discover and measure the bright and narrow “photon ring” that is predicted to exist in images of black holes, will reveal the processes that drive supermassive black hole creation and growth, and will connect supermassive black holes to their relativistic jets.

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