The persistent shadow of the supermassive black hole of M87: II. Model comparisons and theoretical interpretations
Journal article, 2025
The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) observation of M87∗ in 2018 has revealed a ring with a diameter that is consistent with the 2017 observation. The brightest part of the ring is shifted to the southwest from the southeast. In this paper, we provide theoretical interpretations for the multi-epoch EHT observations for M87∗ by comparing a new general relativistic magnetohydrodynamics model image library with the EHT observations for M87∗ in both 2017 and 2018. The model images include aligned and tilted accretion with parameterized thermal and nonthermal synchrotron emission properties. The 2018 observation again shows that the spin vector of the M87∗ supermassive black hole is pointed away from Earth. A shift of the brightest part of the ring during the multi-epoch observations can naturally be explained by the turbulent nature of black hole accretion, which is supported by the fact that the more turbulent retrograde models can explain the multi-epoch observations better than the prograde models. The EHT data are inconsistent with the tilted models in our model image library. Assuming that the black hole spin axis and its large-scale jet direction are roughly aligned, we expect the brightest part of the ring to be most commonly observed 90 deg clockwise from the forward jet. This prediction can be statistically tested through future observations.
Black hole physics
Galaxies: jets
Accretion, accretion disks
Galaxies: active
Galaxies: individual: M87
Gravitation
Author
Kazunori Akiyama
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
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
Universitat de Valencia
U. Bach
Max Planck Society
A. K. Baczko
Max Planck Society
David Ball
University of Arizona
Mislav Baloković
Yale University
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
Lindy Blackburn
Harvard University
R. Blundell
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
K. L. Bouman
California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
G. C. Bower
Academia Sinica
M. Bremer
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
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
J. E. Carlstrom
University of Chicago
A. Chael
Princeton University
Chi Kwan Chan
University of Arizona
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
Thomas M. Crawford
University of Chicago
G. Crew
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Alejandro Cruz-Osorio
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
Yuzhu Cui
Zhejiang Lab
Brandon Curd
Harvard University
Rohan Dahale
Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia (IAA)
Jordy Davelaar
Princeton University
Mariafelicia De Laurentis
University of Naples Federico II
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
Sergio A. Dzib
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
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 (MIT)
P. Friberg
East Asian Observatory
Christian M. Fromm
Max Planck Society
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
Heidelberg University
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
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
Shiro Ikeda
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
C. M. V. Impellizzeri
National Radio Astronomy Observatory
Makoto Inoue
Academia Sinica
S. Issaoun
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
David J. James
ASTRAVEO
Buell T. Jannuzi
University of Arizona
Michael Janssen
Max Planck Society
Britton Jeter
Academia Sinica
Wu Jiang
Shanghai Astronomical Observatory
Alejandra Jimenez-Rosales
Radboud University
Michael D. Johnson
Harvard University
S.G. Jorstad
Boston University
Adam C. Jones
University of Chicago
Abhishek V. Joshi
The Grainger College of Engineering
Taehyun Jung
Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute
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
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
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
Patrick M. Koch
Academia Sinica
Shoko Koyama
Academia Sinica
C. Kramer
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
Joana A. Kramer
Max Planck Society
M. Bremer
Max Planck Society
T.P. Krichbaum
Max Planck Society
Greg Lindahl
Academia Sinica
Michael Lindqvist
Radboud University
Sang Sung Lee
Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute
Aviad Levis
California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
Zhiyuan Li
Nanjing University
R. Lico
Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia (IAA)
Greg Lindahl
Common Crawl Foundation
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 nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)
Wen-Ping Lo
Academia Sinica
A. P. Lobanov
Max Planck Society
L. Loinard
Harvard University
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
Izumi Mizuno
East Asian Observatory
Yosuke Mizuno
Goethe University Frankfurt
Joshua Montgomery
University of Chicago
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)
H. Nagai
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
N. M. Nagar
University of Concepcion
Dhanya G. Nair
Max Planck Society
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
Chunchong Ni
Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
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)
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)
Aleksandar PopStefanija
University of Massachusetts
Oliver Porth
Goethe University Frankfurt
Ben Prather
The Grainger College of Engineering
G. Principe
Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)
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
Luciano Rezzolla
Goethe University Frankfurt
Angelo Ricarte
Harvard University
Bart Ripperda
Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
F. Roelofs
Radboud University
C. Romero-Cañizales
Academia Sinica
Eduardo Ros
Max Planck Society
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 nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)
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
F. P. Schloerb
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
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
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
Tokyo Electron Technology Solutions Limited
Alexandra J. Tetarenko
University of Lethbridge
Paul Tiede
Harvard University
R. P. J. Tilanus
University of Arizona
M. Titus
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Kenji Toma
Tohoku University
Pablo Torne
Max Planck Society
Teresa Toscano
Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia (IAA)
E. Traianou
Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia (IAA)
Tyler Trent
University of Arizona
S. Trippe
Seoul National University
Matthew Turk
University of Illinois
I. van Bemmel
Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy (ASTRON)
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
M. Wielgus
Max Planck Society
K. Wiik
University of Turku
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
Ziri Younsi
Goethe University Frankfurt
Yuzhu Cui
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
Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia (IAA)
Shan-Shan Zhao
Shanghai Astronomical Observatory
Astronomy and Astrophysics
0004-6361 (ISSN) 1432-0746 (eISSN)
Vol. 693 A265Onsala space observatory infrastructure
Swedish Research Council (VR) (2017-00648), 2018-01-01 -- 2021-12-31.
Subject Categories (SSIF 2025)
Astronomy, Astrophysics, and Cosmology
Subatomic Physics
DOI
10.1051/0004-6361/202451296