Black Hole Explorer (BHEX)

Throughout the last century of scientific discovery, as well as the history of popular culture and science fiction, black holes have been a source of fascination and mystery. One thing is certain: black holes are our best opportunity to push the boundaries of human knowledge by peering to the edge of the observable universe. In 2019, SAO captured the first-ever image of a black hole with the Event Horizon Telescope, bringing black holes’ enigmatic qualities into view. The Black Hole Explorer (BHEX) mission will launch the Event Horizon Telescope into space, moving beyond what we can observe from Earth and giving a sharp view that reveals black holes’ essential characteristics.

BHEX Mission Concept [from The Black Hole Explorer: Motivation and Vision, SPIE, 2023]

BHEX combines a network of dedicated partners and the latest in optical communications technology to examine never-before-seen rings of light (photon rings) predicted to exist in black holes and reveal the most basic properties of black hole (their masses and spins) by measuring dozens of supermassive black holes across the universe. These observations and measurements will expose fundamental, universal features of black holes across galaxies and provide crucial insights into what drives their creation and growth. BHEX's mission objectives are to (1) examine the untested prediction of general relativity that black hole images should show a series of sharp photon rings, circles of light that carry clues about how black holes distort and drag spacetime; (2) measure the spin of a supermassive black hole, a ferociously difficult undertaking critical to understanding how black holes form and why they shine; and (3) peer deeper and farther across the universe to measure the masses and spins of dozens of black holes,uncovering patterns that could revolutionize what we know about how black holes evolve. The team has been developing the BHEX concept since 2019 and will propose it as a NASA Small Explorers Mission in 2025. We plan to launch BHEX in 2031.To learn more, visit: https://www.blackholeexplorer.org/.

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