The Variability of the Black Hole Image in M87 at the Dynamical Timescale
Journal article, 2022
The black hole images obtained with the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) are expected to be variable at the dynamical timescale near their horizons. For the black hole at the center of the M87 galaxy, this timescale (5-61 days) is comparable to the 6 day extent of the 2017 EHT observations. Closure phases along baseline triangles are robust interferometric observables that are sensitive to the expected structural changes of the images but are free of station-based atmospheric and instrumental errors. We explored the day-to-day variability in closure-phase measurements on all six linearly independent nontrivial baseline triangles that can be formed from the 2017 observations. We showed that three triangles exhibit very low day-to-day variability, with a dispersion of similar to 3 degrees-5 degrees. The only triangles that exhibit substantially higher variability (similar to 90 degrees-180 degrees) are the ones with baselines that cross the visibility amplitude minima on the u-v plane, as expected from theoretical modeling. We used two sets of general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulations to explore the dependence of the predicted variability on various black hole and accretion-flow parameters. We found that changing the magnetic field configuration, electron temperature model, or black hole spin has a marginal effect on the model consistency with the observed level of variability. On the other hand, the most discriminating image characteristic of models is the fractional width of the bright ring of emission. Models that best reproduce the observed small level of variability are characterized by thin ring-like images with structures dominated by gravitational lensing effects and thus least affected by turbulence in the accreting plasmas.
Author
Kaushik Satapathy
University of Arizona
Dimitrios Psaltis
University of Arizona
Feryal Ozel
University of Arizona
Lia Medeiros
Institute for Advanced Study
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Sean T. Dougall
University of Arizona
Chi-Kwan Chan
University of Arizona
Maciek Wielgus
Harvard University
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Ben S. Prather
University of Illinois
George N. Wong
University of Illinois
Charles F. Gammie
University of Illinois
Kazunori Akiyama
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
Harvard University
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Antxon Alberdi
Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)
Walter Alef
Max Planck Society
Juan Carlos Algaba
University of Malaya
Richard Anantua
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Harvard University
Keiichi Asada
Academia Sinica
Rebecca Azulay
Max Planck Society
Universitat de Valencia
Anne-Kathrin Baczko
Max Planck Society
David Ball
University of Arizona
Mislay Balokovic
Harvard University
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
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-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Harvard University
Raymond Blundell
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Wilfred Boland
Nederlandse Onderzoekschool voor Astronomie (NOVA)
Katherine L. Bouman
Harvard University
California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Geoffrey C. Bower
Academia Sinica
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
Avery E. Broderick
Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
University of Waterloo
Dominique Broguiere
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
Thomas Bronzwaer
Radboud University
Sandra Bustamente
University of Massachusetts
Do-Young Byun
Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute
University of Science and Technology (UST)
John E. Carlstrom
University of Chicago
Andrew Chael
University of Science and Technology of China
Princeton University
Koushik Chatterjee
University of Amsterdam
Shami Chatterjee
Cornell University
Ming-Tang Chen
Academia Sinica
Yongjun Chen
Chinese Academy of Sciences
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
Geoffrey B. Crew
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
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
Goethe University Frankfurt
University of Naples Federico II
National Institute for Nuclear Physics
Roger Deane
Rhodes University
University of Pretoria
University of Witwatersrand
Jessica Dempsey
East Asian Observatory
Gregory Desvignes
Université Paris PSL
Jason Dexter
University of Colorado
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-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Harvard University
University of Massachusetts
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
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
Roberto Garcia
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
Olivier Gentaz
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
Boris Georgiev
University of Waterloo
Ciriaco Goddi
Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)
Radboud University
Roman Gold
University of Southern Denmark
Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
Gomez-Ruiz
National Council for Science and Technology Mexico
National Institute of Astrophysics, Optics and Electronics
Jose L. Gomez
Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)
Minfeng Gu
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Mark Gurwell
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Kazuhiro Hada
The Graduate University for Advanced Studies (SOKENDAI)
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
Daryl Haggard
McGill University
Michael H. Hecht
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Ronald Hesper
University of Groningen
Paul Ho
Academia Sinica
Mareki Honma
The Graduate University for Advanced Studies (SOKENDAI)
University of Tokyo
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
Chih-Wei L. Huang
Academia Sinica
Lei Huang
Chinese Academy of Sciences
David H. Hughes
National Institute of Astrophysics, Optics and Electronics
Shiro Ikeda
The Graduate University for Advanced Studies (SOKENDAI)
University of Tokyo
The Institute of Statistical Mathematics
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
Makoto Inoue
Academia Sinica
Sara Issaoun
Radboud University
David J. James
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Harvard University
Buell T. Jannuzi
University of Arizona
Michael Janssen
Max Planck Society
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
Saint Petersburg State University - Spsu
Boston University
Taehyun Jung
Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute
University of Science and Technology (UST)
Mansour Karami
University of Waterloo
Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
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
University of Arizona
California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
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
Niigata University
Academia Sinica
Carsten Kramer
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
Michael Kramer
Max Planck Society
Thomas P. Krichbaum
Max Planck Society
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
Rocco Lico
Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)
Max Planck Society
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
National Taiwan University
Academia Sinica
Andrei P. Lobanov
Max Planck Society
Laurent Loinard
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
Colin Lonsdale
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Ru-Sen Lu
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Max Planck Society
Nicholas R. MacDonald
Max Planck Society
Jirong Mao
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Nicola Marchili
Max Planck Society
Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)
Sera Markoff
Chinese Academy of Sciences
University of Amsterdam
Daniel P. Marrone
University of Arizona
Alan P. Marscher
Boston University
Ivan Marti-Vidal
Universitat de Valencia
Satoki Matsushita
Academia Sinica
Lynn D. Matthews
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Karl M. Menten
Max Planck Society
Izumi Mizuno
East Asian Observatory
Yosuke Mizuno
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Goethe University Frankfurt
James M. Moran
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Harvard University
Kotaro Moriyama
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Monika Moscibrodzka
Radboud University
Cornelia Mueller
Radboud University
Max Planck Society
Alejandro Mus Mejias
Universitat de Valencia
Gibwa Musoke
University of Amsterdam
Radboud University
Hiroshi Nagai
The Graduate University for Advanced Studies (SOKENDAI)
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
Neil M. Nagar
University of Amsterdam
Masanori Nakamura
Academia Sinica
Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Ramesh Narayan
Harvard University
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Gopal Narayanan
University of Massachusetts
Iniyan Natarajan
University of Concepcion
University of Witwatersrand
Rhodes University
Antonios Nathanail
Goethe University Frankfurt
Joseph Neilsen
National Institute of Technology (KOSEN)
Roberto Neri
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
Chunchong Ni
University of Waterloo
Aristeidis Noutsos
Max Planck Society
Michael A. Nowak
South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO)
Hiroki Okino
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
University of Tokyo
Hector Olivares
Radboud University
Gisela N. Ortiz-Leon
Max Planck Society
Tomoaki Oyama
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
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
Villanova University
Washington University in St. Louis
University of Toronto
Dominic W. Pesce
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Harvard University
Vincent Pietu
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
Richard Plambeck
University of Toronto
Aleksandar PopStefanija
University of Massachusetts
Oliver Porth
University of Amsterdam
Goethe University Frankfurt
Felix M. Potzl
Max Planck Society
Jorge A. Preciado-Lopez
Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
Hung-Yi Pu
Academia Sinica
Canadian Institute for Advanced Research
Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
Venkatessh Ramakrishnan
University of Amsterdam
Ramprasad Rao
Academia Sinica
Mark G. Rawlings
East Asian Observatory
Alexander W. Raymond
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Harvard University
Luciano Rezzolla
University of California
Goethe University Frankfurt
National Taiwan Normal University
Bart Ripperda
Flatiron Institute
Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies
Freek Roelofs
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Radboud University
Alan Rogers
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Eduardo Ros
Max Planck Society
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
Trinity College Dublin
David Sanchez-Arguelles
National Institute of Astrophysics, Optics and Electronics
Princeton University
Mahito Sasada
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
Tuomas Savolainen
Hiroshima University
National Council for Science and Technology Mexico
Max Planck Society
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
University of Science and Technology (UST)
Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute
Aalto 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
Radboud University
University of Arizona
Yonsei University
Aalto University
Michael Titus
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Kenji Toma
Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO)
Leiden University
Pablo Torne
Trinity College Dublin
Max Planck Society
Efthalia Traianou
Max Planck Society
Tyler Trent
University of Arizona
Sascha Trippe
Tohoku University
Ilse van Bemmel
Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe (JIVE)
Huib Jan van Langevelde
Tohoku University
Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe (JIVE)
Daniel R. van Rossum
Radboud University
Jan Wagner
Max Planck Society
Derek Ward-Thompson
Seoul National University
John Wardle
Leiden University
Jonathan Weintroub
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Harvard University
Norbert Wex
Max Planck Society
Robert Wharton
Max Planck Society
Kaj Wiik
University of Central Lancashire
Qingwen Wu
Brandeis University
Doosoo Yoon
University of Amsterdam
Andre Young
Radboud University
Ken Young
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Ziri Younsi
University of Turku
Goethe University Frankfurt
Feng Yuan
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Huazhong University of Science and Technology
Ye-Fei Yuan
University College London (UCL)
J. Anton Zensus
Max Planck Society
Guang-Yao Zhao
Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)
Shan-Shan Zhao
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Astrophysical Journal
0004-637X (ISSN) 1538-4357 (eISSN)
Vol. 925 1 13Subject Categories (SSIF 2011)
Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences
Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology
Condensed Matter Physics
DOI
10.3847/1538-4357/ac332e