![]() In VLBI, each antenna is equipped with an extremely precise atomic clock to record the time at which radio signals from the target object were received. However, while actually observing, several kinds of noise and errors interfere with the telescope’s performance and affect the resolution. The resolution of a telescope can be calculated from the radio wavelength the telescope is observing at and the size of the telescope - or in VLBI, the distance between the antennas. As explained in the fifth post of this blog series, the key is to use Very-Long-Baseline Interferometry (VLBI), a technique that combines the observing power of and the data from telescopes around the world to create a virtual giant radio telescope. To capture its image, incredibly high resolution is needed. Sagittarius A* has a mass approximately four million times that of the Sun, but it only looks like a tiny dot from Earth, 26 000 light-years away. To make it possible to image the shadow of the event horizon of Sagittarius A*, many researchers and cutting-edge technologies have been mobilised - because obtaining an image of a black hole is not as easy as snapping a photo with an ordinary camera. “Seeing a black hole” has been a long-cherished desire for many astronomers, but now, thanks to the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) and the Global mm-VLBI Array (GMVA) projects, it may no longer be just a dream.
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