The three-band camera will provide detailed images of black holes

Through a grant of 13 million kronor from the Hasselblad Foundation, Chalmers will build a new, world-leading camera for the 20-meter telescope at the Onsala Space Observatory.

The camera itself, called a "three-band camera," will make it possible to take detailed multicolor images of black holes and other phenomena in the universe. The construction of the camera is made possible through private grants and donations, including from the Hasselblad Foundation, which contributes 13 million kronor to the project.

- We are proud of our long collaboration with the Onsala Space Observatory. The foundation was laid when Victor and Erna Hasselblad donated the land to the observatory. Just as the Hasselblad camera once made it possible to see the moon in a new way, the three-band camera contributes to exploring the universe with new precision. We look forward to following the results that this technology will enable, says Hasselblad Foundation's CEO Kalle Sanner.

Radio telescopes are used to study the universe using radio waves, a form of invisible light. By connecting antennas in large networks, radio astronomers can create sharper images than what is possible with other types of telescopes. 

The Milky Way's black hole captured on image for the first time

The first spectacular images of a black hole were published in 2019, taken with telescopes similar to Onsala's. In the international project Event Horizon Telescope, several telescopes worldwide (the GMVA telescope network) were coordinated to create the images. With the help of the new three-band camera, Onsala will be able to collaborate globally with the world's largest radio telescopes to take new, even better images of both black holes and other phenomena in the universe.

- Our new three-band camera will be a completely different instrument than the Hasselblad cameras that took pictures on the moon, but for us, the goal is the same. We want to develop world-leading technology to image and understand phenomena in space, says John Conway, director of the Onsala Space Observatory, and professor of radio astronomy at Chalmers. 

The Onsala Space Observatory is Sweden's national infrastructure for radio astronomy. At the facility, located just over forty kilometers south of Gothenburg, there are several radio telescopes - including the 20-meter large millimeter wave telescope, which is equipped with receivers for radio waves from space. It is used for observations of, among other things, comets, star-forming regions, and active galactic nuclei. 

The three-band camera and the technology surrounding it are currently being built by engineers on-site in Onsala and at Chalmers campus in Gothenburg. And new, similar cameras are being built or planned at many of the world's leading radio telescopes. 

- This means that more telescopes can participate and contribute to images from space, but also that we can see the black holes in more wavelengths. Our camera will use new technology that makes it possible for the first time to create sharp images in multiple colors simultaneously. This will provide both finer images and new scientific insights, says Jun Yang, astronomer and research engineer at the Onsala Space Observatory, who coordinates the project.

One of the initiators of the Event Horizon Telescope collaboration is Anton Zensus, director at the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in Germany and scientific leader of the GMVA telescope network. 

- With cameras specifically built for the purpose, our telescopes will collaborate to help us explore black holes, the early universe, the life of stars, and rapidly changing cosmic events. All in greater detail than ever before, he says.

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