A new mission strives to take black hole imaging to space. Scientists from the Georgia Institute of Technology, the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and 12 universities from around the world recently convened for a three-day workshop to plan the launch of the Space-based Precision Millimeter Interferometry Telescope (SPRITE) project. The proposed NASA Medium-Class Explorer mission aims to revolutionize the understanding of black holes through space-based imaging.
From Earth to orbit: The next step
SPRITE builds on the groundbreaking achievements of the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT), a network of ground-based telescopes able to synchronize observations from around the globe. EHT is most well-known for capturing the first images of black holes, M87* and Sagittarius A*.
“We’ve done what we can from the ground; we’ve run out of Earth,” says Professor and Chair of the School of Physics Feryal Özel, SPRITE’s principal investigator and a well-known astrophysicist instrumental in EHT’s success and development. “SPRITE will send two telescopes into orbit – achieving better imaging than a dozen telescopes on the ground.”
By sending the telescopes into space, the mission will be able to overcome the limitations of Earth’s atmosphere, which blocks certain wavelengths of light and produces turbulence that can degrade image quality. Unlike Earth-based telescopes, which rely on the planet’s rotation to change viewing angles, SPRITE’s telescopes will rotate independently across the vastness of space with data continuously transmitted from the satellites to ground stations.
“I like to think of it as an MRI machine rotating around a patient,” explains Özel. “In space, our telescopes can perform this orbital dance from great distances – giving us multiple perspectives of a black hole and allowing us to build a much more complete image.”
Mission goals
SPRITE’s objectives are ambitious and far-reaching, specifically to:
- Create more images of previously unseen black holes at resolutions better than M87* and Sagittarius A*;
- Confirm the presence of binary black holes through visual imagery; and
- Study the hot gas dynamics around black holes.
This class of mission requires a three-year operational lifetime to achieve its main science goals – although planners estimate the project will be able to operate considerably longer.
Preparing for launch
SPRITE is being organized to reflect Georgia Tech’s commitment to advancing space science through interdisciplinary collaboration and innovation, and will work closely with the Institute’s new Space Research Initiative. Locating SPRITE at Georgia Tech allows the mission to benefit from the knowledge of leading experts from the Colleges of Sciences, Engineering, and Computing; and GTRI.
The recent kickoff meeting marked SPRITE’s first large-scale gathering of contributors from around the world.
“We had smaller meetings before, but this was the first time the full team came together to share expertise and collaboratively shape the mission,” says Özel. “Most importantly, this meeting showed us that we have a strong scientific case for our mission and its design.”
Over the next two to three years, the team will work to validate key technologies and prepare a compelling proposal for NASA. If selected, SPRITE is expected to launch in the mid-2030s, marking the beginning of a new era in space imaging.
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The kickoff meeting marked the first time that a large group of team members came together in person. Team members shared what they will bring to the mission and spent time refining the goals and requirements of the mission.
Feryal Özel,
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Laura S. Smith, writer
