Queen's University at Kingston
The Second Generation Balloon-borne Very Large Baseline Interferometry Experiment — The Second Generation Balloon-borne Very Long Baseline Interferometry Experiment (BVEX2) aims to help astronomers map incredibly small and distant objects in space, like the regions surrounding supermassive black holes. By suspending a radio telescope from a stratospheric balloon above 99% of the Earth’s atmosphere, BVEX2 will demonstrate a new way to observe high-frequency light that is normally blocked by the atmosphere. This project will make the first demonstration that a telescope suspended from a stratospheric balloon can be used as part of an Earth-sized network of radio telescopes. The project will also serve as a pathfinder experiment that will develop technology that could be used for more sensitive high-frequency balloon telescopes to increase the number of mapped black hole shadows and eventually for a space interferometer that can map the regions around dozens of black holes.