SAMURAI Science

The key goals for SAMURAI are listed below. Each of the two primary goals is a link to the specific measurements that will be made to address that goal, and each has an Astro2010 science white paper associated with it. This specific formulation of goals and the required measurements also would achieve 7 of the 9 primary science goals, still outstanding, of the proposed ARISE mission that was recommended by the decadal survey in 2000.

Astrophysical Goal: Understand how supermassive black holes (SMBHs) generate ultra-relativistic jets and powerful gamma ray emission.

• How are ultra-relativistic jets generated by SMBHs?
• Where and how are high-energy gamma rays produced in jets near SMBHs?
• How are ultra-relativistic jets confined and shaped as they propagate away from SMBHs?
• Astro2010 AGN white paper

Cosmological goal: Constrain the nature of dark energy by making the most accurate measurement of the Hubble constant.

• Measure distances to Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs) containing water megamasers.
• Estimate Hubble's Constant.
• Constrain the nature of dark energy.
• Astro2010 dark energy white paper

SAMURAI Science Team

Hosted by NRAO on behalf of the US VSOP-2 Science Team.