Russian scientists proposed building telescope on the Moon to study black holes
Russian astronomers have proposed to build a telescope on the lunar surface that would operate in the sub-terahertz range of electromagnetic waves, enabling scientists to obtain detailed images of the surroundings of black holes and, for the first time, study in detail the movement of matter near the event horizon, according to the press service of the Astro Space Centre of the Lebedev Physical Institute (Russia), TASS reports
“The lunar antenna array – working in conjunction with a ground-based network of telescopes – will enable us to view the shadows of black holes with a resolution up to 30 times better than the EHT telescope did. This will lead to a breakthrough in the study of the physics of supermassive black holes. Moreover, the lunar observatory will also explore the early Universe through observations of spectral distortions of the cosmic microwave background radiation and study some problems of star formation,” the report reads.
The idea was put forward by a group of Russian astronomers under the leadership of Head of the Astro Space Centre at the Lebedev Physical Institute Sergei Likhachev as part of a comprehensive study of further prospects for the development of sub-terahertz astronomy in Russia. Within its framework, astronomers use electromagnetic waves with frequencies of hundreds of gigahertz and higher to observe the most distant and unusual objects in the Universe, including supermassive black holes, their emissions, the first galaxies and other celestial bodies.
In recent years, astronomers from Russia and other countries have been actively proposing to begin placing telescopes and observatories not only in space, but also on the surface of the Moon. Their construction will make it possible to bypass the limitations imposed by the Earth’s atmosphere, as well as protect telescopes from man-made light and electromagnetic interference. In particular, in April 2021, Scientific Director of the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences Lev Zeleny proposed placing a special telescope on the lunar surface aimed at searching for sources of high-energy cosmic rays: charged particles moving at near-light speed.
