Polarimetric Properties of Event Horizon Telescope Targets from ALMA
Journal article, 2021
We present the results from a full polarization study carried out with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) during the first Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) campaign, which was conducted in 2017 April in the lambda 3 mm and lambda 1.3 mm bands, in concert with the Global mm-VLBI Array (GMVA) and the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT), respectively. We determine the polarization and Faraday properties of all VLBI targets, including Sgr A*, M87, and a dozen radio-loud active galactic nuclei (AGNs), in the two bands at several epochs in a time window of 10 days. We detect high linear polarization fractions (2%-15%) and large rotation measures (RM > 10(3.3)-10(5.5) rad m(-2)), confirming the trends of previous AGN studies at millimeter wavelengths. We find that blazars are more strongly polarized than other AGNs in the sample, while exhibiting (on average) order-of-magnitude lower RM values, consistent with the AGN viewing angle unification scheme. For Sgr A* we report a mean RM of (-4.2 0.3) x 10(5) rad m(-2) at 1.3 mm, consistent with measurements over the past decade and, for the first time, an RM of (-2.1 0.1) x 10(5) rad m(-2) at 3 mm, suggesting that about half of the Faraday rotation at 1.3 mm may occur between the 3 mm photosphere and the 1.3 mm source. We also report the first unambiguous measurement of RM toward the M87 nucleus at millimeter wavelengths, which undergoes significant changes in magnitude and sign reversals on a one year timescale, spanning the range from -1.2 to 0.3 x 10(5) rad m(-2) at 3 mm and -4.1 to 1.5 x 10(5) rad m(-2) at 1.3 mm. Given this time variability, we argue that, unlike the case of Sgr A*, the RM in M87 does not provide an accurate estimate of the mass accretion rate onto the black hole. We put forward a two-component model, comprised of a variable compact region and a static extended region, that can simultaneously explain the polarimetric properties observed by both the EHT (on horizon scales) and ALMA (which observes the combined emission from both components). These measurements provide critical constraints for the calibration, analysis, and interpretation of simultaneously obtained VLBI data with the EHT and GMVA.
Interferometry
Blazars
Polarimetry
Radio jets
Active galactic nuclei
Relativistic jets
Long baseline interferometry
Supermassive black holes
Radio galaxies
Galactic center
Magnetic fields
Quasars
Author
Ciriaco Goddi
Radboud University
Leiden University
Ivan Marti-Vidal
Universitat de Valencia
Hugo Messias
Atacama Large Millimeter-submillimeter Array (ALMA)
Geoffrey C. Bower
Academia Sinica
Avery E. Broderick
Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
University of Waterloo
Jason Dexter
University of Colorado at Boulder
Daniel P. Marrone
University of Arizona
Monika Moscibrodzka
Radboud University
Hiroshi Nagai
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
The Graduate University for Advanced Studies (SOKENDAI)
Juan Carlos Algaba
University of Malaya
Keiichi Asada
Academia Sinica
Geoffrey B. Crew
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Jose L. Gomez
Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)
C. M. Violette Impellizzeri
Leiden University
Atacama Large Millimeter-submillimeter Array (ALMA)
Michael Janssen
Max Planck Society
Matthias Kadler
University of Würzburg
Thomas P. Krichbaum
Max Planck Society
Rocco Lico
Max Planck Society
Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)
Lynn D. Matthews
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Antonios Nathanail
Goethe University Frankfurt
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
Angelo Ricarte
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Harvard University
Eduardo Ros
Max Planck Society
Ziri Younsi
Goethe University Frankfurt
University College London (UCL)
Kazunori Akiyama
Harvard University
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
National Radio Astronomy Observatory
Antxon Alberdi
Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)
Walter Alef
Max Planck Society
Richard Anantua
Harvard University
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Flatiron Institute
Rebecca Azulay
Universitat de Valencia
Max Planck Society
Anne-Kathrin Baczko
Max Planck Society
David Ball
University of Arizona
Mislay Balokovic
Yale University
Yale Ctr Astron & Astrophys, 52 Hillhouse Ave
John Barrett
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Bradford A. Benson
Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
University of Chicago
Dan Bintley
East Asian Observatory
Lindy Blackburn
Harvard University
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Raymond Blundell
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Wilfred Boland
Nederlandse Onderzoekschool voor Astronomie (NOVA)
Katherine L. Bouman
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
Harvard University
Hope Boyce
McGill University
Michael Bremer
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
Christiaan D. Brinkerink
Radboud University
Roger Brissenden
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Harvard University
Silke Britzen
Max Planck Society
Dominique Broguiere
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
Thomas Bronzwaer
Radboud University
Do-Young Byun
Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute
University of Science and Technology (UST)
John E. Carlstrom
University of Chicago
Andrew Chael
Princeton University
ESO FINCA
Chi-kwan Chan
University of Arizona
Shami Chatterjee
Cornell University
Koushik Chatterjee
University of Amsterdam
Ming-Tang Chen
Academia Sinica
Yongjun Chen
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Paul M. Chesler
Harvard University
Ilje Cho
University of Science and Technology (UST)
Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute
Pierre Christian
Fairfield University
John Conway
Chalmers, Space, Earth and Environment, Onsala Space Observatory
James M. Cordes
Cornell University
Thomas M. Crawford
University of Chicago
Alejandro Cruz-Osorio
Goethe University Frankfurt
Yuzhu Cui
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
The Graduate University for Advanced Studies (SOKENDAI)
Jordy Davelaar
Columbia University
Radboud University
Flatiron Institute
Mariafelicia De Laurentis
University of Naples Federico II
Goethe University Frankfurt
National Institute for Nuclear Physics
Roger Deane
University of Pretoria
Rhodes University
University of Witwatersrand
Jessica Dempsey
East Asian Observatory
Gregory Desvignes
Paris Descartes University
Sheperd S. Doeleman
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Harvard University
Ralph P. Eatough
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Max Planck Society
Heino Falcke
Radboud University
Joseph Farah
Harvard University
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
University of Massachusetts Boston
Vincent L. Fish
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Ed Fomalont
National Radio Astronomy Observatory
H. Alyson Ford
University of Arizona
Raquel Fraga-Encinas
Radboud University
William T. Freeman
Google Inc.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Per Friberg
East Asian Observatory
Christian M. Fromm
Harvard University
Goethe University Frankfurt
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Antonio Fuentes
Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)
Peter Galison
Harvard University
Charles F. Gammie
University of Illinois
Roberto Garcia
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
Olivier Gentaz
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
Boris Georgiev
University of Waterloo
Roman Gold
Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
University of Southern Denmark
Gomez-Ruiz
National Institute of Astrophysics, Optics and Electronics
National Council for Science and Technology Mexico
Minfeng Gu
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Mark Gurwell
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Kazuhiro Hada
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
The Graduate University for Advanced Studies (SOKENDAI)
Daryl Haggard
McGill University
Michael H. Hecht
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Ronald Hesper
University of Groningen
Luis C. Ho
Beijing University of Technology
Paul Ho
Academia Sinica
Mareki Honma
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
The Graduate University for Advanced Studies (SOKENDAI)
University of Tokyo
Chih-Wei L. Huang
Academia Sinica
Lei Huang
Chinese Academy of Sciences
David H. Hughes
National Institute of Astrophysics, Optics and Electronics
Makoto Inoue
Academia Sinica
Sara Issaoun
Radboud University
David J. James
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Harvard University
Buell T. Jannuzi
University of Arizona
Britton Jeter
University of Waterloo
Wu Jiang
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Alejandra Jimenez-Rosales
Radboud University
Michael D. Johnson
Harvard University
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Svetlana Jorstad
Boston University
Saint Petersburg State University - Spsu
Taehyun Jung
University of Science and Technology (UST)
Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute
Mansour Karami
Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
University of Waterloo
Ramesh Karuppusamy
Max Planck Society
Tomohisa Kawashima
University of Tokyo
Garrett K. Keating
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Mark Kettenis
Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe (JIVE)
Dong-Jin Kim
Max Planck Society
Jae-Young Kim
Max Planck Society
Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute
Jongsoo Kim
Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute
Junhan Kim
California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
University of Arizona
Motoki Kino
Kogakuin University of Technology and Engineering
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
Jun Yi Koay
Academia Sinica
Yutaro Kofuji
University of Tokyo
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
Patrick M. Koch
Academia Sinica
Shoko Koyama
Academia Sinica
Michael Kramer
Max Planck Society
Carsten Kramer
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
Cheng-Yu Kuo
Academia Sinica
National Sun Yat-Sen University
Tod R. Lauer
National Optical Astronomy Observatory
Sang-Sung Lee
Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute
Aviad Levis
California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
Yan-Rong Li
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Zhiyuan Li
Nanjing University
Michael Lindqvist
Chalmers, Space, Earth and Environment, Onsala Space Observatory
Greg Lindahl
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Jun Liu
Max Planck Society
Kuo Liu
Max Planck Society
Elisabetta Liuzzo
Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)
Wen-Ping Lo
Academia Sinica
National Taiwan University
Andrei P. Lobanov
Max Planck Society
Laurent Loinard
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
Colin Lonsdale
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Ru-Sen Lu
Max Planck Society
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Nicholas R. MacDonald
Max Planck Society
Jirong Mao
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Nicola Marchili
Max Planck Society
Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)
Sera Markoff
University of Amsterdam
Alan P. Marscher
Boston University
Satoki Matsushita
Academia Sinica
Lia Medeiros
University of Arizona
Institute for Advanced Study
Karl M. Menten
Max Planck Society
Izumi Mizuno
East Asian Observatory
Yosuke Mizuno
Goethe University Frankfurt
Shanghai Jiao Tong University
James M. Moran
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Harvard University
Kotaro Moriyama
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Cornelia Muller
Radboud University
Max Planck Society
Gibwa Musoke
University of Amsterdam
Radboud University
Alejandro Mus Mejias
Universitat de Valencia
Neil M. Nagar
University of Concepcion
Masanori Nakamura
National Institute of Technology, Hachinohe College
Academia Sinica
Ramesh Narayan
Harvard University
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Gopal Narayanan
University of Massachusetts
Iniyan Natarajan
South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO)
Rhodes University
University of Witwatersrand
Joey Neilsen
Villanova University
Roberto Neri
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
Chunchong Ni
University of Waterloo
Aristeidis Noutsos
Max Planck Society
Michael A. Nowak
Washington University in St. Louis
Hiroki Okino
University of Tokyo
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
Hector Olivares
Radboud University
Gisela N. Ortiz-Leon
Max Planck Society
Tomoaki Oyama
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
Feryal Ozel
University of Arizona
Daniel C. M. Palumbo
Harvard University
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Jongho Park
Academia Sinica
Nimesh Patel
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Ue-Li Pen
Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
Canadian Institute for Advanced Research
University of Toronto
Dominic W. Pesce
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Harvard University
Vincent Pietu
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
Richard Plambeck
University of California at Berkeley
Aleksandar PopStefanija
University of Massachusetts
Oliver Porth
University of Amsterdam
Goethe University Frankfurt
Felix M. Poetzl
Max Planck Society
Ben Prather
University of Illinois
Jorge A. Preciado-Lopez
Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
Dimitrios Psaltis
University of Arizona
Hung-Yi Pu
Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
National Taiwan Normal University
Academia Sinica
Venkatessh Ramakrishnan
University of Concepcion
Ramprasad Rao
Academia Sinica
Mark G. Rawlings
East Asian Observatory
Alexander W. Raymond
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Harvard University
Luciano Rezzolla
Inst Theoret Phys
Trinity College Dublin
Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies
Bart Ripperda
Princeton University
Flatiron Institute
Freek Roelofs
Radboud University
Alan Rogers
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Mel Rose
University of Arizona
Arash Roshanineshat
University of Arizona
Helge Rottmann
Max Planck Society
Alan L. Roy
Max Planck Society
Chet Ruszczyk
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Kazi L. J. Rygl
Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)
Salvador Sanchez
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
David Sanchez-Arguelles
National Institute of Astrophysics, Optics and Electronics
National Council for Science and Technology Mexico
Mahito Sasada
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
Hiroshima University
Tuomas Savolainen
Max Planck Society
Aalto University
F. Peter Schloerb
University of Massachusetts
Karl-Friedrich Schuster
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
Lijing Shao
Beijing University of Technology
Max Planck Society
Zhiqiang Shen
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Des Small
Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe (JIVE)
Bong Won Sohn
Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute
University of Science and Technology (UST)
Yonsei University
Jason SooHoo
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
He Sun
California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
Fumie Tazaki
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
Alexandra J. Tetarenko
East Asian Observatory
Paul Tiede
University of Waterloo
Remo P. J. Tilanus
University of Arizona
East Asian Observatory
Leiden University
Radboud University
Michael Titus
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Kenji Toma
Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO)
Tohoku University
Pablo Torne
Max Planck Society
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
Tyler Trent
University of Arizona
Efthalia Traianou
Max Planck Society
Sascha Trippe
Tohoku University
Ilse van Bemmel
Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe (JIVE)
Huib Jan van Langevelde
Seoul National University
Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe (JIVE)
Daniel R. van Rossum
Radboud University
Jan Wagner
Max Planck Society
Derek Ward-Thompson
Leiden University
John Wardle
University of Central Lancashire
Jonathan Weintroub
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Harvard University
Norbert Wex
Max Planck Society
Robert Wharton
Max Planck Society
Maciek Wielgus
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Harvard University
George N. Wong
University of Illinois
Qingwen Wu
Brandeis University
Feng Yuan
Huazhong University of Science and Technology
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Doosoo Yoon
University of Amsterdam
Andre Young
Radboud University
Ken Young
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Ye-Fei Yuan
Chinese Academy of Sciences
J. Anton Zensus
Max Planck Society
Guang-Yao Zhao
Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)
Shan-Shan Zhao
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Gabriele Bruni
University of Science and Technology of China
A. Gopakumar
Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)
Antonio Hernandez-Gomez
Max Planck Society
Ruben Herrero-Illana
Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)
Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
Adam Ingram
European Southern Observatory (ESO)
S. Komossa
Max Planck Society
Y. Y. Kovalev
Russian Academy of Sciences
Max Planck Society
University of Oxford
Dirk Muders
Max Planck Society
Manel Perucho
Universitat de Valencia
Florian Rosch
University of Würzburg
Mauri Valtonen
Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology
Astrophysical Journal Letters
2041-8205 (ISSN) 2041-8213 (eISSN)
Vol. 910 1 L14Subject Categories
Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences
Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology
Environmental Sciences
Infrastructure
Onsala Space Observatory
DOI
10.3847/2041-8213/abee6a