Event Horizon Telescope observations of the jet launching and collimation in Centaurus A
Journal article, 2021
Very-long-baseline interferometry (VLBI) observations of active galactic nuclei at millimetre wavelengths have the power to reveal the launching and initial collimation region of extragalactic radio jets, down to 10–100 gravitational radii (rg ≡ GM/c2) scales in nearby sources1. Centaurus A is the closest radio-loud source to Earth2. It bridges the gap in mass and accretion rate between the supermassive black holes (SMBHs) in Messier 87 and our Galactic Centre. A large southern declination of −43° has, however, prevented VLBI imaging of Centaurus A below a wavelength of 1 cm thus far. Here we show the millimetre VLBI image of the source, which we obtained with the Event Horizon Telescope at 228 GHz. Compared with previous observations3, we image the jet of Centaurus A at a tenfold higher frequency and sixteen times sharper resolution and thereby probe sub-lightday structures. We reveal a highly collimated, asymmetrically edge-brightened jet as well as the fainter counterjet. We find that the source structure of Centaurus A resembles the jet in Messier 87 on ~500 rg scales remarkably well. Furthermore, we identify the location of Centaurus A’s SMBH with respect to its resolved jet core at a wavelength of 1.3 mm and conclude that the source’s event horizon shadow4 should be visible at terahertz frequencies. This location further supports the universal scale invariance of black holes over a wide range of masses5,6.
Author
Michael Janssen
Max Planck Society
H.D. Falcke
Radboud University
M. Kadler
University of Würzburg
Eduardo Ros
Max Planck Society
M. Wielgus
Harvard University
Kazunori Akiyama
Harvard University
Mislav Baloković
Yale University
Lindy Blackburn
Harvard University
K. L. Bouman
Harvard University
A. Chael
Princeton University
Chi Kwan Chan
University of Arizona
Koushik Chatterjee
University of Amsterdam
Jordy Davelaar
Radboud University
P. G. Edwards
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)
Christian M. Fromm
Harvard University
J. L. Gomez
Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia (IAA)
C. Goddi
Radboud University
S. Issaoun
Radboud University
Michael D. Johnson
Harvard University
Junhan Kim
California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
Jun Yi Koay
Academia Sinica
T.P. Krichbaum
Max Planck Society
Jun Liu
Max Planck Society
Elisabetta Liuzzo
Istituto di Radioastronomia
S. Markoff
University of Amsterdam
Alex Markowitz
Polish Academy of Sciences
D. P. Marrone
University of Arizona
Yosuke Mizuno
Goethe University Frankfurt
C. Müller
Max Planck Society
Chunchong Ni
University of Waterloo
Dominic W. Pesce
Harvard University
Venkatessh Ramakrishnan
University of Concepcion
F. Roelofs
Radboud University
Kazi L.J. Rygl
Istituto di Radioastronomia
I. van Bemmel
Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe (JIVE)
Antxon Alberdi
Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia (IAA)
Walter Alef
Max Planck Society
Juan-Carlos Algaba
University of Malaya
Richard Anantua
Harvard University
K. Asada
Academia Sinica
R. Azulay
Max Planck Society
A. K. Baczko
Max Planck Society
David Ball
University of Arizona
John Barrett
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Bradford A. Benson
Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
Dan Bintley
East Asian Observatory
R. Blundell
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
W. Boland
Nederlandse Onderzoekschool voor Astronomie (NOVA)
G. C. Bower
Academia Sinica
Hope Boyce
McGill University
M. Bremer
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
C. D. Brinkerink
Radboud University
Roger Brissenden
Harvard University
Silke Britzen
Max Planck Society
Avery E. Broderick
University of Waterloo
D. Broguière
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
Thomas Bronzwaer
Radboud University
Do Young Byun
Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute
J. E. Carlstrom
University of Chicago
S. Chatterjee
Cornell University
Ming Tang Chen
Academia Sinica
Yongjun Chen
Shanghai Astronomical Observatory
Paul M. Chesler
Harvard University
I. Cho
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
G. Crew
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Alejandro Cruz-Osorio
Goethe University Frankfurt
Yuzhu Cui
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
Mariafelicia De Laurentis
Goethe University Frankfurt
R. P. Deane
University of Witwatersrand
Jessica Dempsey
East Asian Observatory
Gregory Desvignes
Paris Observatory
Jason Dexter
University of Colorado at Boulder
S. Doeleman
Harvard University
Ralph P. Eatough
Max Planck Society
Joseph R. Farah
Harvard University
V. Fish
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
E. Fomalont
National Radio Astronomy Observatory
H. Alyson Ford
University of Arizona
R. Fraga-Encinas
Radboud University
P. Friberg
East Asian Observatory
Antonio Fuentes
Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia (IAA)
Peter Galison
Harvard University
Charles F. Gammie
University of Illinois
Roberto Garcia
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
Zachary Gelles
Harvard University
Olivier Gentaz
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
Boris Georgiev
University of Waterloo
R. Gold
Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
Arturo I. Gómez-Ruiz
National Institute of Astrophysics, Optics and Electronics
Minfeng Gu
Shanghai Astronomical Observatory
M. Gurwell
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
K. Hada
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
Daryl Haggard
McGill University
Michael H. Hecht
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
R. Hesper
University of Groningen
Elizabeth Himwich
Harvard University
Luis C. Ho
Beijing University of Technology
Paul Ho
Academia Sinica
Mareki Honma
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
Chih Wei L. Huang
Academia Sinica
Lei Huang
Shanghai Astronomical Observatory
D. Hughes
National Institute of Astrophysics, Optics and Electronics
Shiro Ikeda
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
Makoto Inoue
Academia Sinica
David J. James
Harvard University
Buell T. Jannuzi
University of Arizona
Britton Jeter
University of Waterloo
Wu Jiang
Shanghai Astronomical Observatory
Alejandra Jimenez-Rosales
Radboud University
S.G. Jorstad
Boston University
Taehyun Jung
Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute
Mansour Karami
University of Waterloo
R. Karuppusamy
Max Planck Society
Tomohisa Kawashima
University of Tokyo
G. Keating
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
M. M. Kettenis
Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe (JIVE)
Dong-Jin Kim
Max Planck Society
Jae-Young Kim
Max Planck Society
Jongsoo Kim
Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute
M. Kino
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
Yutaro Kofuji
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
Shoko Koyama
Academia Sinica
M. Kramer
Max Planck Society
C. Kramer
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
Cheng-Yu Kuo
Academia Sinica
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
R. Lico
Max Planck Society
Greg Lindahl
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Kuo Liu
Max Planck Society
Wen-Ping Lo
Academia Sinica
A. P. Lobanov
Max Planck Society
L. Loinard
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
Colin Lonsdale
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
R.S. Lu
Max Planck Society
N. R. Macdonald
Max Planck Society
Jirong Mao
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Nicola Marchili
Max Planck Society
A. Marscher
Boston University
Ivan Marti-Vidal
Universitat de Valencia
S. Matsushita
Academia Sinica
Lynn D. Matthews
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Lia Medeiros
University of Arizona
K. Menten
Max Planck Society
Izumi Mizuno
East Asian Observatory
James M. Moran
Harvard University
Kotaro Moriyama
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
M. Mościbrodzka
Radboud University
Gibwa Musoke
Radboud University
Alejandro Mus Mejías
Universitat de Valencia
H. Nagai
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
N. M. Nagar
University of Concepcion
Masanori Nakamura
Academia Sinica
Ramesh Narayan
Harvard University
Gopal Narayanan
University of Massachusetts
Iniyan Natarajan
University of Witwatersrand
Antonios Nathanail
Goethe University Frankfurt
Joey Neilsen
Villanova University
R. Neri
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
A. Noutsos
Max Planck Society
Michael A. Nowak
Washington University in St. Louis
Hiroki Okino
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
Héctor Olivares
Radboud University
G.N. Ortiz-León
Max Planck Society
Tomoaki Oyama
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
Feryal Özel
University of Arizona
Daniel C.M. Palumbo
Harvard University
Jongho Park
Academia Sinica
N. Patel
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
U. L. Pen
Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
Vincent Piétu
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
Richard L. Plambeck
University of California
Aleksandar PopStefanija
University of Massachusetts
Oliver Porth
University of Amsterdam
Felix M. Pötzl
Max Planck Society
Ben Prather
University of Illinois
Jorge A. Preciado-López
Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
Dimitrios Psaltis
University of Arizona
Hung-Yi Pu
Academia Sinica
R. Rao
Academia Sinica
M.G. Rawlings
East Asian Observatory
Alexander W. Raymond
Harvard University
Luciano Rezzolla
Goethe University Frankfurt
Angelo Ricarte
Harvard University
Bart Ripperda
Flatiron Institute
A.E.E. Rogers
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Mel Rose
University of Arizona
Arash Roshanineshat
University of Arizona
H. Rottmann
Max Planck Society
A. Roy
Max Planck Society
C. Ruszczyk
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
S. Sanchez
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
David Sánchez-Arguelles
National Institute of Astrophysics, Optics and Electronics
Mahito Sasada
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
T. Savolainen
Max Planck Society
F. P. Schloerb
University of Massachusetts
K. Schuster
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
Lijing Shao
Max Planck Society
Zhi Qiang Shen
Shanghai Astronomical Observatory
Des Small
Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe (JIVE)
B. W. Sohn
Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute
J. 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
R. P. J. Tilanus
Radboud University
M. Titus
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Pablo Torne
Max Planck Society
Tyler Trent
University of Arizona
E. Traianou
Max Planck Society
S. Trippe
Seoul National University
Ilse van Bemmel
Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe (JIVE)
H. J. van Langevelde
Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe (JIVE)
Daniel R. van Rossum
Radboud University
Jan Wagner
Max Planck Society
D. Ward-Thompson
University of Central Lancashire
John Wardle
Brandeis University
J. Weintroub
Harvard University
Norbert Wex
Max Planck Society
Robert Wharton
Max Planck Society
George N. Wong
University of Illinois
Qingwen Wu
Huazhong University of Science and Technology
Doosoo Yoon
University of Amsterdam
A. Young
Radboud University
Ken Young
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Ziri Younsi
Goethe University Frankfurt
Feng Yuan
Shanghai Astronomical Observatory
Ye-Fei Yuan
University of Science and Technology of China
A.J. Zensus
Max Planck Society
G. Y. Zhao
Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia (IAA)
Shan-Shan Zhao
Shanghai Astronomical Observatory
Nature Astronomy
23973366 (eISSN)
Vol. 5 10 1017-1028Subject Categories
Accelerator Physics and Instrumentation
Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology
Fusion, Plasma and Space Physics
DOI
10.1038/s41550-021-01417-w