Abstract
The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) has mapped the central compact radio source of the elliptical galaxy M87 at 1.3 mm with unprecedented angular resolution. Here we consider the physical implications of the asymmetric ring seen in the 2017 EHT data. To this end, we construct a large library of models based on general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic (GRMHD) simulations and synthetic images produced by general relativistic ray tracing. We compare the observed visibilities with this library and confirm that the asymmetric ring is consistent with earlier predictions of strong gravitational lensing of synchrotron emission from a hot plasma orbiting near the black hole event horizon. The ring radius and ring asymmetry depend on black hole mass and spin, respectively, and both are therefore expected to be stable when observed in future EHT campaigns. Overall, the observed image is consistent with expectations for the shadow of a spinning Kerr black hole as predicted by general relativity. If the black hole spin and M87's large scale jet are aligned, then the black hole spin vector is pointed away from Earth. Models in our library of non-spinning black holes are inconsistent with the observations as they do not produce sufficiently powerful jets. At the same time, in those models that produce a sufficiently powerful jet, the latter is powered by extraction of black hole spin energy through mechanisms akin to the Blandford-Znajek process. We briefly consider alternatives to a black hole for the central compact object. Analysis of existing EHT polarization data and data taken simultaneously at other wavelengths will soon enable new tests of the GRMHD models, as will future EHT campaigns at 230 and 345 GHz.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Article number | L5 |
| Journal | Astrophysical Journal Letters |
| Volume | 875 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Apr 10 2019 |
Keywords
- accretion, accretion disks
- black hole physics
- galaxies: individual (M87)
- galaxies: jets
- magnetohydrodynamics (MHD)
- techniques: high angular resolution
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Astronomy and Astrophysics
- Space and Planetary Science
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First M87 Event Horizon Telescope Results. V. Physical Origin of the Asymmetric Ring. / Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration, The; Akiyama, Kazunori; Alberdi, Antxon; Alef, Walter; Asada, Keiichi; Azulay, Rebecca; Baczko, Anne Kathrin; Ball, David; Baloković, Mislav; Barrett, John; Bintley, Dan; Blackburn, Lindy; Boland, Wilfred; Bouman, Katherine L.; Bower, Geoffrey C.; Bremer, Michael; Brinkerink, Christiaan D.; Brissenden, Roger; Britzen, Silke; Broderick, Avery E.; Broguiere, Dominique; Bronzwaer, Thomas; Byun, Do Young; Carlstrom, John E.; Chael, Andrew; Chan, Chi Kwan; Chatterjee, Shami; Chatterjee, Koushik; Chen, Ming Tang; Chen, Yongjun; Cho, Ilje; Christian, Pierre; Conway, John E.; Cordes, James M.; Crew, Geoffrey B.; Cui, Yuzhu; Davelaar, Jordy; De Laurentis, Mariafelicia; Deane, Roger; Dempsey, Jessica; Desvignes, Gregory; Dexter, Jason; Doeleman, Sheperd S.; Eatough, Ralph P.; Falcke, Heino; Fish, Vincent L.; Fomalont, Ed; Fraga-Encinas, Raquel; Friberg, Per; Fromm, Christian M.; Gómez, José L.; Galison, Peter; Gammie, Charles F.; Garcia, Roberto; Gentaz, Olivier; Georgiev, Boris; Goddi, Ciriaco; Gold, Roman; Gu, Minfeng; Gurwell, Mark; Hada, Kazuhiro; Hecht, Michael H.; Hesper, Ronald; Ho, Luis C.; Ho, Paul; Honma, Mareki; Huang, Chih Wei L.; Huang, Lei; Hughes, David H.; Ikeda, Shiro; Inoue, Makoto; Issaoun, Sara; James, David J.; Jannuzi, Buell T.; Janssen, Michael; Jeter, Britton; Jiang, Wu; Johnson, Michael D.; Jorstad, Svetlana; Jung, Taehyun; Karami, Mansour; Karuppusamy, Ramesh; Kawashima, Tomohisa; Keating, Garrett K.; Kettenis, Mark; Kim, Jae Young; Kim, Junhan; Kim, Jongsoo; Kino, Motoki; Koay, Jun Yi; Koch, Patrick M.; Koyama, Shoko; Kramer, Michael; Kramer, Carsten; Krichbaum, Thomas P.; Kuo, Cheng Yu; Lauer, Tod R.; Lee, Sang Sung; Li, Yan Rong; Li, Zhiyuan; Lindqvist, Michael; Liu, Kuo; Liuzzo, Elisabetta; Lo, Wen Ping; Lobanov, Andrei P.; Loinard, Laurent; Lonsdale, Colin; Lu, Ru Sen; Macdonald, Nicholas R.; Mao, Jirong; Markoff, Sera; Marrone, Daniel P.; Marscher, Alan P.; Marti-Vidal, Iván; Matsushita, Satoki; Matthews, Lynn D.; Medeiros, Lia; Menten, Karl M.; Mizuno, Yosuke; Mizuno, Izumi; Moran, James M.; Moriyama, Kotaro; Moscibrodzka, Monika; Muller, Cornelia; Nagai, Hiroshi; Nagar, Neil M.; Nakamura, Masanori; Narayan, Ramesh; Narayanan, Gopal; Natarajan, Iniyan; Neri, Roberto; Ni, Chunchong; Noutsos, Aristeidis; Okino, Hiroki; Olivares, Héctor; Oyama, Tomoaki; Ozel, Feryal; Palumbo, Daniel C.M.; Patel, Nimesh; Pen, Ue Li; Pesce, Dominic W.; Piétu, Vincent; Plambeck, Richard; Popstefanija, Aleksandar; Porth, Oliver; Prather, Ben; Preciado-López, Jorge A.; Psaltis, Dimitrios; Pu, Hung Yi; Ramakrishnan, Venkatessh; Rao, Ramprasad; Rawlings, Mark G.; Raymond, Alexander W.; Rezzolla, Luciano; Ripperda, Bart; Roelofs, Freek; Rogers, Alan; Ros, Eduardo; Rose, Mel; Roshanineshat, Arash; Rottmann, Helge; Roy, Alan L.; Ruszczyk, Chet; Ryan, Benjamin R.; Rygl, Kazi L.J.; Sánchez, Salvador; Sánchez-Arguelles, David; Sasada, Mahito; Savolainen, Tuomas; Schloerb, F. Peter; Schuster, Karl Friedrich; Shao, Lijing; Shen, Zhiqiang; Small, Des; Sohn, Bong Won; Soohoo, Jason; Tazaki, Fumie; Tiede, Paul; Tilanus, Remo P.J.; Titus, Michael; Toma, Kenji; Torne, Pablo; Trent, Tyler; Trippe, Sascha; Tsuda, Shuichiro; Van Bemmel, Ilse; Van Langevelde, Huib Jan; Van Rossum, Daniel R.; Wagner, Jan; Wardle, John; Weintroub, Jonathan; Wex, Norbert; Wharton, Robert; Wielgus, Maciek; Wong, George N.; Wu, Qingwen; Young, André; Young, Ken; Younsi, Ziri; Yuan, Feng; Yuan, Ye Fei; Zensus, J. Anton; Zhao, Guangyao; Zhao, Shan Shan; Zhu, Ziyan; Anczarski, Jadyn; Baganoff, Frederick K.; Eckart, Andreas; Farah, Joseph R.; Haggard, Daryl; Meyer-Zhao, Zheng; Michalik, Daniel; Nadolski, Andrew; Neilsen, Joseph; Nishioka, Hiroaki; Nowak, Michael A.; Pradel, Nicolas; Primiani, Rurik A.; Souccar, Kamal; Vertatschitsch, Laura; Yamaguchi, Paul; Zhang, Shuo.
In: Astrophysical Journal Letters, Vol. 875, No. 1, L5, 10.04.2019.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - First M87 Event Horizon Telescope Results. V. Physical Origin of the Asymmetric Ring
AU - Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration, The
AU - Akiyama, Kazunori
AU - Alberdi, Antxon
AU - Alef, Walter
AU - Asada, Keiichi
AU - Azulay, Rebecca
AU - Baczko, Anne Kathrin
AU - Ball, David
AU - Baloković, Mislav
AU - Barrett, John
AU - Bintley, Dan
AU - Blackburn, Lindy
AU - Boland, Wilfred
AU - Bouman, Katherine L.
AU - Bower, Geoffrey C.
AU - Bremer, Michael
AU - Brinkerink, Christiaan D.
AU - Brissenden, Roger
AU - Britzen, Silke
AU - Broderick, Avery E.
AU - Broguiere, Dominique
AU - Bronzwaer, Thomas
AU - Byun, Do Young
AU - Carlstrom, John E.
AU - Chael, Andrew
AU - Chan, Chi Kwan
AU - Chatterjee, Shami
AU - Chatterjee, Koushik
AU - Chen, Ming Tang
AU - Chen, Yongjun
AU - Cho, Ilje
AU - Christian, Pierre
AU - Conway, John E.
AU - Cordes, James M.
AU - Crew, Geoffrey B.
AU - Cui, Yuzhu
AU - Davelaar, Jordy
AU - De Laurentis, Mariafelicia
AU - Deane, Roger
AU - Dempsey, Jessica
AU - Desvignes, Gregory
AU - Dexter, Jason
AU - Doeleman, Sheperd S.
AU - Eatough, Ralph P.
AU - Falcke, Heino
AU - Fish, Vincent L.
AU - Fomalont, Ed
AU - Fraga-Encinas, Raquel
AU - Friberg, Per
AU - Fromm, Christian M.
AU - Gómez, José L.
AU - Galison, Peter
AU - Gammie, Charles F.
AU - Garcia, Roberto
AU - Gentaz, Olivier
AU - Georgiev, Boris
AU - Goddi, Ciriaco
AU - Gold, Roman
AU - Gu, Minfeng
AU - Gurwell, Mark
AU - Hada, Kazuhiro
AU - Hecht, Michael H.
AU - Hesper, Ronald
AU - Ho, Luis C.
AU - Ho, Paul
AU - Honma, Mareki
AU - Huang, Chih Wei L.
AU - Huang, Lei
AU - Hughes, David H.
AU - Ikeda, Shiro
AU - Inoue, Makoto
AU - Issaoun, Sara
AU - James, David J.
AU - Jannuzi, Buell T.
AU - Janssen, Michael
AU - Jeter, Britton
AU - Jiang, Wu
AU - Johnson, Michael D.
AU - Jorstad, Svetlana
AU - Jung, Taehyun
AU - Karami, Mansour
AU - Karuppusamy, Ramesh
AU - Kawashima, Tomohisa
AU - Keating, Garrett K.
AU - Kettenis, Mark
AU - Kim, Jae Young
AU - Kim, Junhan
AU - Kim, Jongsoo
AU - Kino, Motoki
AU - Koay, Jun Yi
AU - Koch, Patrick M.
AU - Koyama, Shoko
AU - Kramer, Michael
AU - Kramer, Carsten
AU - Krichbaum, Thomas P.
AU - Kuo, Cheng Yu
AU - Lauer, Tod R.
AU - Lee, Sang Sung
AU - Li, Yan Rong
AU - Li, Zhiyuan
AU - Lindqvist, Michael
AU - Liu, Kuo
AU - Liuzzo, Elisabetta
AU - Lo, Wen Ping
AU - Lobanov, Andrei P.
AU - Loinard, Laurent
AU - Lonsdale, Colin
AU - Lu, Ru Sen
AU - Macdonald, Nicholas R.
AU - Mao, Jirong
AU - Markoff, Sera
AU - Marrone, Daniel P.
AU - Marscher, Alan P.
AU - Marti-Vidal, Iván
AU - Matsushita, Satoki
AU - Matthews, Lynn D.
AU - Medeiros, Lia
AU - Menten, Karl M.
AU - Mizuno, Yosuke
AU - Mizuno, Izumi
AU - Moran, James M.
AU - Moriyama, Kotaro
AU - Moscibrodzka, Monika
AU - Muller, Cornelia
AU - Nagai, Hiroshi
AU - Nagar, Neil M.
AU - Nakamura, Masanori
AU - Narayan, Ramesh
AU - Narayanan, Gopal
AU - Natarajan, Iniyan
AU - Neri, Roberto
AU - Ni, Chunchong
AU - Noutsos, Aristeidis
AU - Okino, Hiroki
AU - Olivares, Héctor
AU - Oyama, Tomoaki
AU - Ozel, Feryal
AU - Palumbo, Daniel C.M.
AU - Patel, Nimesh
AU - Pen, Ue Li
AU - Pesce, Dominic W.
AU - Piétu, Vincent
AU - Plambeck, Richard
AU - Popstefanija, Aleksandar
AU - Porth, Oliver
AU - Prather, Ben
AU - Preciado-López, Jorge A.
AU - Psaltis, Dimitrios
AU - Pu, Hung Yi
AU - Ramakrishnan, Venkatessh
AU - Rao, Ramprasad
AU - Rawlings, Mark G.
AU - Raymond, Alexander W.
AU - Rezzolla, Luciano
AU - Ripperda, Bart
AU - Roelofs, Freek
AU - Rogers, Alan
AU - Ros, Eduardo
AU - Rose, Mel
AU - Roshanineshat, Arash
AU - Rottmann, Helge
AU - Roy, Alan L.
AU - Ruszczyk, Chet
AU - Ryan, Benjamin R.
AU - Rygl, Kazi L.J.
AU - Sánchez, Salvador
AU - Sánchez-Arguelles, David
AU - Sasada, Mahito
AU - Savolainen, Tuomas
AU - Schloerb, F. Peter
AU - Schuster, Karl Friedrich
AU - Shao, Lijing
AU - Shen, Zhiqiang
AU - Small, Des
AU - Sohn, Bong Won
AU - Soohoo, Jason
AU - Tazaki, Fumie
AU - Tiede, Paul
AU - Tilanus, Remo P.J.
AU - Titus, Michael
AU - Toma, Kenji
AU - Torne, Pablo
AU - Trent, Tyler
AU - Trippe, Sascha
AU - Tsuda, Shuichiro
AU - Van Bemmel, Ilse
AU - Van Langevelde, Huib Jan
AU - Van Rossum, Daniel R.
AU - Wagner, Jan
AU - Wardle, John
AU - Weintroub, Jonathan
AU - Wex, Norbert
AU - Wharton, Robert
AU - Wielgus, Maciek
AU - Wong, George N.
AU - Wu, Qingwen
AU - Young, André
AU - Young, Ken
AU - Younsi, Ziri
AU - Yuan, Feng
AU - Yuan, Ye Fei
AU - Zensus, J. Anton
AU - Zhao, Guangyao
AU - Zhao, Shan Shan
AU - Zhu, Ziyan
AU - Anczarski, Jadyn
AU - Baganoff, Frederick K.
AU - Eckart, Andreas
AU - Farah, Joseph R.
AU - Haggard, Daryl
AU - Meyer-Zhao, Zheng
AU - Michalik, Daniel
AU - Nadolski, Andrew
AU - Neilsen, Joseph
AU - Nishioka, Hiroaki
AU - Nowak, Michael A.
AU - Pradel, Nicolas
AU - Primiani, Rurik A.
AU - Souccar, Kamal
AU - Vertatschitsch, Laura
AU - Yamaguchi, Paul
AU - Zhang, Shuo
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2019. The American Astronomical Society..
PY - 2019/4/10
Y1 - 2019/4/10
N2 - The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) has mapped the central compact radio source of the elliptical galaxy M87 at 1.3 mm with unprecedented angular resolution. Here we consider the physical implications of the asymmetric ring seen in the 2017 EHT data. To this end, we construct a large library of models based on general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic (GRMHD) simulations and synthetic images produced by general relativistic ray tracing. We compare the observed visibilities with this library and confirm that the asymmetric ring is consistent with earlier predictions of strong gravitational lensing of synchrotron emission from a hot plasma orbiting near the black hole event horizon. The ring radius and ring asymmetry depend on black hole mass and spin, respectively, and both are therefore expected to be stable when observed in future EHT campaigns. Overall, the observed image is consistent with expectations for the shadow of a spinning Kerr black hole as predicted by general relativity. If the black hole spin and M87's large scale jet are aligned, then the black hole spin vector is pointed away from Earth. Models in our library of non-spinning black holes are inconsistent with the observations as they do not produce sufficiently powerful jets. At the same time, in those models that produce a sufficiently powerful jet, the latter is powered by extraction of black hole spin energy through mechanisms akin to the Blandford-Znajek process. We briefly consider alternatives to a black hole for the central compact object. Analysis of existing EHT polarization data and data taken simultaneously at other wavelengths will soon enable new tests of the GRMHD models, as will future EHT campaigns at 230 and 345 GHz.
AB - The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) has mapped the central compact radio source of the elliptical galaxy M87 at 1.3 mm with unprecedented angular resolution. Here we consider the physical implications of the asymmetric ring seen in the 2017 EHT data. To this end, we construct a large library of models based on general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic (GRMHD) simulations and synthetic images produced by general relativistic ray tracing. We compare the observed visibilities with this library and confirm that the asymmetric ring is consistent with earlier predictions of strong gravitational lensing of synchrotron emission from a hot plasma orbiting near the black hole event horizon. The ring radius and ring asymmetry depend on black hole mass and spin, respectively, and both are therefore expected to be stable when observed in future EHT campaigns. Overall, the observed image is consistent with expectations for the shadow of a spinning Kerr black hole as predicted by general relativity. If the black hole spin and M87's large scale jet are aligned, then the black hole spin vector is pointed away from Earth. Models in our library of non-spinning black holes are inconsistent with the observations as they do not produce sufficiently powerful jets. At the same time, in those models that produce a sufficiently powerful jet, the latter is powered by extraction of black hole spin energy through mechanisms akin to the Blandford-Znajek process. We briefly consider alternatives to a black hole for the central compact object. Analysis of existing EHT polarization data and data taken simultaneously at other wavelengths will soon enable new tests of the GRMHD models, as will future EHT campaigns at 230 and 345 GHz.
KW - accretion, accretion disks
KW - black hole physics
KW - galaxies: individual (M87)
KW - galaxies: jets
KW - magnetohydrodynamics (MHD)
KW - techniques: high angular resolution
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85064463510&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85064463510&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3847/2041-8213/ab0f43
DO - 10.3847/2041-8213/ab0f43
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85064463510
VL - 875
JO - Astrophysical Journal Letters
JF - Astrophysical Journal Letters
SN - 2041-8205
IS - 1
M1 - L5
ER -