The putative center in NGC 1052
Journal article, 2024

Context. Many active galaxies harbor powerful relativistic jets, however, the detailed mechanisms of their formation and acceleration remain poorly understood. Aims. To investigate the area of jet acceleration and collimation with the highest available angular resolution, we study the innermost region of the bipolar jet in the nearby low-ionization nuclear emission-line region (LINER) galaxy NGC 1052. Methods. We combined observations of NGC 1052 taken with VLBA, GMVA, and EHT over one week in the spring of 2017. Our study is focused on the size and continuum spectrum of the innermost region containing the central engine and the footpoints of both jets. We employed a synchrotron-self absorption model to fit the continuum radio spectrum and we combined the size measurements from close to the central engine out to ∼1 pc to study the jet collimation. Results. For the first time, NGC 1052 was detected with the EHT, providing a size of the central region in-between both jet bases of 43 μas perpendicular to the jet axes, corresponding to just around 250 RS (Schwarzschild radii). This size estimate supports previous studies of the jets expansion profile which suggest two breaks of the profile at around 3 × 103 RS and 1 × 104 RS distances to the core. Furthermore, we estimated the magnetic field to be 1.25 Gauss at a distance of 22 μas from the central engine by fitting a synchrotron-self absorption spectrum to the innermost emission feature, which shows a spectral turn-over at ∼130 GHz. Assuming a purely poloidal magnetic field, this implies an upper limit on the magnetic field strength at the event horizon of 2.6 × 104 Gauss, which is consistent with previous measurements. Conclusions. The complex, low-brightness, double-sided jet structure in NGC 1052 makes it a challenge to detect the source at millimeter (mm) wavelengths. However, our first EHT observations have demonstrated that detection is possible up to at least 230 GHz. This study offers a glimpse through the dense surrounding torus and into the innermost central region, where the jets are formed. This has enabled us to finally resolve this region and provide improved constraints on its expansion and magnetic field strength.

Techniques: high angular resolution

Galaxies: Seyfert

Methods: observational

Galaxies: jets

Galaxies: active

Techniques: interferometric

Author

A. K. Baczko

M. Kadler

University of Würzburg

Eduardo Ros

Max Planck Society

Christian M. Fromm

Max Planck Society

M. Wielgus

Max Planck Society

M. Perucho

Universitat de Valencia

T.P. Krichbaum

Max Planck Society

Mislav Baloković

Yale University

Lindy Blackburn

Harvard University

Chi Kwan Chan

University of Arizona

S. Issaoun

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

Makoto Inoue

Max Planck Society

L. Ricci

Max Planck Society

Kazunori Akiyama

Harvard University

E. Albentosa-Ruiz

Universitat de Valencia

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

U. Bach

Max Planck Society

David Ball

University of Arizona

Bidisha Bandyopadhyay

University of Concepcion

John Barrett

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

M. Bauböck

The Grainger College of Engineering

Bradford A. Benson

Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory

Dan Bintley

East Asian Observatory

R. Blundell

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

K. L. Bouman

California Institute of Technology (Caltech)

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

Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics

D. Broguière

Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)

Thomas Bronzwaer

Radboud University

Sandra Bustamente

University of Massachusetts

Do Young Byun

Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute

J. E. Carlstrom

University of Chicago

Chiara Ceccobello

Chalmers, Space, Earth and Environment, Astronomy and Plasmaphysics

A. Chael

Princeton University

Dominic O. Chang

Harvard University

Koushik Chatterjee

Harvard University

S. Chatterjee

Cornell University

Ming Tang Chen

Academia Sinica

Yongjun Chen

Shanghai Astronomical Observatory

X. P. Cheng

Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute

I. Cho

Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia (IAA)

Pierre Christian

Fairfield University

Nicholas S. Conroy

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

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

Zhejiang Lab

Rohan Dahale

Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia (IAA)

Jordy Davelaar

Princeton University

Mariafelicia De Laurentis

Goethe University Frankfurt

R. P. Deane

University of Witwatersrand

Jessica Dempsey

East Asian Observatory

Gregory Desvignes

Max Planck Society

Jason Dexter

JILA

Vedant Dhruv

The Grainger College of Engineering

Indu K. Dihingia

Shanghai Jiao Tong University

S. Doeleman

Harvard University

Sean Dougall

University of Arizona

Sergio A. Dzib

Max Planck Society

Ralph P. Eatough

Max Planck Society

Razieh Emami

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

H.D. Falcke

Radboud University

Joseph R. Farah

Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network

V. Fish

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

E. Fomalont

National Radio Astronomy Observatory

H.D. Falcke

University of Arizona

Marianna Foschi

Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia (IAA)

R. Fraga-Encinas

Radboud University

William T. Freeman

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

P. Friberg

East Asian Observatory

Antonio Fuentes

Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia (IAA)

Peter Galison

Harvard University

Charles F. Gammie

The Grainger College of Engineering

Roberto Garcia

Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)

Olivier Gentaz

Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)

Boris Georgiev

University of Arizona

C. Goddi

University of Sao Paulo (USP)

R. Gold

University of Southern Denmark

Arturo I. Gómez-Ruiz

National Institute of Astrophysics, Optics and Electronics

J. L. Gomez

Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia (IAA)

Minfeng Gu

Shanghai Astronomical Observatory

M. Gurwell

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

K. Hada

Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences

Daryl Haggard

McGill University

Kari Haworth

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

Michael H. Hecht

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

R. Hesper

University of Groningen

Dirk Heumann

University of Arizona

Luis C. Ho

Beijing University of Technology

P. T. P. 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

C. M. V. Impellizzeri

National Radio Astronomy Observatory

Makoto Inoue

Academia Sinica

David J. James

ASTRAVEO

Buell T. Jannuzi

University of Arizona

Britton Jeter

Academia Sinica

Wu Jiang

Shanghai Astronomical Observatory

Alejandra Jimenez-Rosales

Radboud University

Michael D. Johnson

Harvard University

S.G. Jorstad

Boston University

Abhishek V. Joshi

The Grainger College of Engineering

Taehyun Jung

Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute

Mansour Karami

Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics

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

Junhan Kim

Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST)

R. Karuppusamy

National Astronomical Observatory of Japan

Jun Yi Koay

Academia Sinica

Prashant Kocherlakota

Goethe University Frankfurt

Yutaro Kofuji

National Astronomical Observatory of Japan

Shoko Koyama

Academia Sinica

C. Kramer

Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)

Joana A. Kramer

Max Planck Society

M. Bremer

Max Planck Society

Greg Lindahl

Academia Sinica

Michael Lindqvist

Radboud University

Tod R. Lauer

National Optical Astronomy Observatory

Daeyoung Lee

The Grainger College of Engineering

Sang Sung Lee

Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute

Po Kin Leung

Chinese University of Hong Kong

Aviad Levis

California Institute of Technology (Caltech)

Zhiyuan Li

Nanjing University

R. Lico

Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia (IAA)

Greg Lindahl

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

Michael Lindqvist

Chalmers, Space, Earth and Environment, Onsala Space Observatory

Mikhail Lisakov

Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso

Jun Liu

Max Planck Society

Kuo Liu

Max Planck Society

Elisabetta Liuzzo

Istituto di Radioastronomia

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)

Amy E. Lowitz

University of Arizona

Sandra Bustamente

Max Planck Society

N. R. Macdonald

Max Planck Society

Jirong Mao

Yunnan Observatories

Nicola Marchili

Max Planck Society

S. Markoff

Anton Pannekoek Institute for Astronomy

D. P. Marrone

University of Arizona

A. Marscher

Boston University

Ivan Marti-Vidal

Universitat de Valencia

S. Matsushita

Academia Sinica

Lynn D. Matthews

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Lia Medeiros

Princeton University

K. Menten

Max Planck Society

Daniel Michalik

University of Chicago

Izumi Mizuno

East Asian Observatory

Yosuke Mizuno

Goethe University Frankfurt

James M. Moran

Harvard University

Kotaro Moriyama

Goethe University Frankfurt

M. Mościbrodzka

Radboud University

Wanga Mulaudzi

Anton Pannekoek Institute for Astronomy

C. Müller

Max Planck Society

Hendrik Müller

Max Planck Society

A. Mus

University of Cagliari

Gibwa Musoke

Radboud University

I. Myserlis

Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)

Andrew Nadolski

University of Illinois

H. Nagai

National Astronomical Observatory of Japan

N. M. Nagar

University of Concepcion

Dhanya G. Nair

University of Concepcion

Masanori Nakamura

Academia Sinica

Gopal Narayanan

University of Massachusetts

Iniyan Natarajan

Harvard University

Antonios Nathanail

Goethe University Frankfurt

Santiago Navarro Fuentes

Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)

Joseph Neilsen

Villanova University

R. Neri

Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)

Chunchong Ni

Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics

A. Noutsos

Max Planck Society

Michael A. Nowak

Washington University in St. Louis

Junghwan Oh

Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe (JIVE)

Hiroki Okino

National Astronomical Observatory of Japan

Héctor Olivares

Centre For Research And Development In Mathematics And Applications (CIDMA)

G.N. Ortiz-León

Max Planck Society

Tomoaki Oyama

National Astronomical Observatory of Japan

Feryal Özel

Georgia Institute of Technology

Daniel C.M. Palumbo

Harvard University

Georgios Filippos Paraschos

Max Planck Society

Jongho Park

Academia Sinica

Harriet Parsons

East Asian Observatory

N. Patel

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

U. L. Pen

Academia Sinica

Dominic W. Pesce

Harvard University

Vincent Piétu

Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)

Richard L. Plambeck

University of California

Aleksandar PopStefanija

University of Massachusetts

Oliver Porth

Goethe University Frankfurt

Felix M. Pötzl

Max Planck Society

Ben Prather

The Grainger College of Engineering

Jorge A. Preciado-López

Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics

G. Principe

Istituto di Radioastronomia

Dimitrios Psaltis

Georgia Institute of Technology

Hung-Yi Pu

Academia Sinica

Venkatessh Ramakrishnan

University of Concepcion

R. Rao

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

M.G. Rawlings

East Asian Observatory

Alexander W. Raymond

Harvard University

Angelo Ricarte

Harvard University

Bart Ripperda

Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics

F. Roelofs

Harvard University

A.E.E. Rogers

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

C. Romero-Cañizales

Academia Sinica

Arash Roshanineshat

University of Arizona

H. Rottmann

Max Planck Society

A. Roy

Max Planck Society

Ignacio Ruiz

Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)

C. Ruszczyk

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Kazi L.J. Rygl

Istituto di Radioastronomia

S. Sanchez

Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)

David Sánchez-Arguelles

National Institute of Astrophysics, Optics and Electronics

M. Sánchez Portal

Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)

Mahito Sasada

National Astronomical Observatory of Japan

Kaushik Satapathy

University of Arizona

T. Savolainen

Max Planck Society

T. Savolainen

University of Massachusetts

Jonathan Schonfeld

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

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

Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia (IAA)

León David Sosapanta Salas

Anton Pannekoek Institute for Astronomy

Kamal Souccar

University of Massachusetts

Joshua S. Stanway

University of Central Lancashire

He Sun

Beijing University of Technology

Fumie Tazaki

National Astronomical Observatory of Japan

Alexandra J. Tetarenko

University of Lethbridge

Paul Tiede

Harvard University

R. P. J. Tilanus

University of Arizona

M. Titus

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Pablo Torne

Max Planck Society

Teresa Toscano

Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia (IAA)

E. Traianou

Max Planck Society

Tyler Trent

University of Arizona

S. Trippe

Seoul National University

Matthew Turk

University of Illinois

I. van Bemmel

Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe (JIVE)

H. J. van Langevelde

Leiden University

Daniel R. van Rossum

Radboud University

Jesse Vos

Radboud University

Jan Wagner

Max Planck Society

D. Ward-Thompson

University of Central Lancashire

John Wardle

Brandeis University

Jasmin E. Washington

University of Arizona

J. Weintroub

Harvard University

Robert Wharton

Max Planck Society

K. Wiik

Tuorla Observatory

Gunther Witzel

Max Planck Society

Michael F. Wondrak

Radboud University

George N. Wong

Princeton University

Qingwen Wu

Huazhong University of Science and Technology

Nitika Yadlapalli

California Institute of Technology (Caltech)

Paul Yamaguchi

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

Aristomenis Yfantis

Radboud University

Doosoo Yoon

Anton Pannekoek Institute for Astronomy

A. Young

Radboud University

K. Young

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

Ziri Younsi

Goethe University Frankfurt

Wei Yu

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

Feng Yuan

Fudan University

Ye-Fei Yuan

University of Science and Technology of China

A.J. Zensus

Max Planck Society

Shuo Zhang

Michigan State University

G. Y. Zhao

Max Planck Society

Astronomy and Astrophysics

0004-6361 (ISSN) 1432-0746 (eISSN)

Vol. 692 A205

Subject Categories (SSIF 2011)

Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology

DOI

10.1051/0004-6361/202450898

Related datasets

URI: https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/

More information

Latest update

1/10/2025