Ring Asymmetry and Spin in M87*
Journal article, 2026
Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) images of the supermassive black hole M87* depict an asymmetric ring of emission. General relativistic magnetohydrodynamic (GRMHD) models of M87* and its accretion disk predict that the amplitude and location of the ring’s peak brightness asymmetry should fluctuate due to turbulence in the source plasma. We compare the observed distribution of brightness asymmetry amplitudes to the simulated distribution in GRMHD models, across varying black hole spin a*. We show that, for strongly magnetized (MAD) models, three epochs of EHT data marginally disfavor ∣a*∣ ≲ 0.2. This is consistent with the Blandford-Znajek model for M87’s jet, which predicts that M87* should have nonzero spin. We show quantitatively how future observations could improve spin constraints and discuss how improved spin constraints could distinguish between differing jet-launching mechanisms and black hole growth scenarios.
Author
Vadim Y. Bernshteyn
Grainger College of Engineering
Nicholas S. Conroy
University of Illinois
M. Bauböck
Grainger College of Engineering
Paul Tiede
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Abhishek V. Joshi
Grainger College of Engineering
Ben Prather
Grainger College of Engineering
Charles F. Gammie
Grainger College of Engineering
Shuo Zhang
Michigan State University
Kazunori Akiyama
Harvard University
E. Albentosa-Ruiz
Universitat de Valencia
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
K. Asada
Academia Sinica
R. Azulay
Universitat de Valencia
A. K. Baczko
Max Planck Society
David Ball
University of Arizona
Bidisha Bandyopadhyay
University of Concepcion
John Barrett
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Bradford A. Benson
Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
Dan Bintley
East Asian Observatory
Lindy Blackburn
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
R. Blundell
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
K. L. Bouman
California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
G. C. Bower
East Asian Observatory
M. Bremer
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
Roger Brissenden
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
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
Douglas Ferreira Carlos
University of Sao Paulo (USP)
J. E. Carlstrom
University of Chicago
A. Chael
Princeton University
Chi Kwan Chan
University of Arizona
Dominic O. Chang
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Koushik Chatterjee
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Ming Tang Chen
Academia Sinica
Yongjun Chen
Chinese Academy of Sciences
X. P. Cheng
Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute
Paul Chichura
University of Chicago
I. Cho
Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)
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
Huazhong Normal University
Brandon Curd
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Rohan Dahale
Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)
Jordy Davelaar
Princeton University
Mariafelicia De Laurentis
University of Naples Federico II
R. P. Deane
University of Witwatersrand
Jason Dexter
JILA
Vedant Dhruv
Grainger College of Engineering
Indu K. Dihingia
Shanghai Jiao Tong University
S. Doeleman
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Sergio A. Dzib
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
Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)
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
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 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
Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)
Minfeng Gu
Chinese Academy of Sciences
M. Gurwell
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
K. Hada
University of Tokyo
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
Chinese Academy of Sciences
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
University of Turku
Wu Jiang
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Alejandra Jimenez-Rosales
Radboud University
Michael D. Johnson
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
S.G. Jorstad
Boston University
Adam C. Jones
University of Chicago
Taehyun Jung
Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute
Tomohisa Kawashima
Ichinoseki College
G. Keating
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
M. M. Kettenis
Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe (JIVE)
Dong-Jin Kim
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)
Jae-Young Kim
Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST)
Jongsoo Kim
Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute
Junhan Kim
Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST)
M. Kino
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
Jun Yi Koay
Academia Sinica
Prashant Kocherlakota
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
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. Kramer
Max Planck Society
T.P. Krichbaum
Max Planck Society
Greg Lindahl
Academia Sinica
Michael Lindqvist
Radboud University
Deokhyeong Lee
Kyungpook National University
Sang Sung Lee
Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute
Aviad Levis
California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
Shaoliang Li
East Asian Observatory
Zhiyuan Li
Nanjing University
R. Lico
Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)
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
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Elisabetta Liuzzo
Istituto di Radioastronomia
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
R.S. Lu
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
University of Wisconsin
K. Menten
Max Planck Society
H. Messias
Atacama Large Millimeter-submillimeter Array (ALMA)
Izumi Mizuno
East Asian Observatory
Yosuke Mizuno
Goethe University Frankfurt
Joshua Montgomery
University of Chicago
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-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Antonios Nathanail
Goethe University Frankfurt
S. Navarro Fuentes
Hachinohe College
Joseph Neilsen
Villanova University
Chunchong Ni
Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
Michael A. Nowak
Washington University in St. Louis
Hiroki Okino
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
Héctor Olivares
Centre For Research And Development In Mathematics And Applications (CIDMA)
Feryal Özel
Georgia Institute of Technology
Daniel C.M. Palumbo
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
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-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Vincent Piétu
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
Alexander V. Plavin
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Aleksandar PopStefanija
University of Massachusetts
Oliver Porth
Goethe University Frankfurt
G. Principe
Istituto di Radioastronomia
Dimitrios Psaltis
Georgia Institute of Technology
Hung-Yi Pu
Academia Sinica
Alexandra S. Rahlin
University of Chicago
Venkatessh Ramakrishnan
University of Turku
R. Rao
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
M.G. Rawlings
East Asian Observatory
Luciano Rezzolla
Goethe University Frankfurt
Angelo Ricarte
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
L. Ricci
University of Würzburg
Bart Ripperda
Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
J. Röder
Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)
Freek 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 di Radioastronomia
León David Sosapanta Salas
Anton Pannekoek Institute for Astronomy
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
Saurabh
Max Planck Society
T. Savolainen
Max Planck Society
K. Schuster
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
Zhi Qiang Shen
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Sasikumar Silpa
University of Concepcion
Randall Smith
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
B. W. Sohn
Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute
J. SooHoo
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Kamal Souccar
University of Massachusetts
Joshua S. Stanway
University of Central Lancashire
He Sun
Beijing University of Technology
Alexandra J. Tetarenko
University of Lethbridge
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
Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)
E. Traianou
Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)
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
S. von Fellenberg
Max Planck Society
Jesse Vos
Departement Wiskunde
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-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
M. Wielgus
Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)
K. Wiik
University of Turku
Michael F. Wondrak
Radboud University
George N. Wong
Princeton University
Jompoj Wongphexhauxsorn
Max Planck Society
Qingwen Wu
Huazhong University of Science and Technology
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
Wei Yu
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Feng Yuan
Fudan University
Ye-Fei Yuan
University of Science and Technology of China
Ai Ling Zeng
Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)
A.J. Zensus
Max Planck Society
G. Y. Zhao
Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)
Astrophysical Journal
0004-637X (ISSN) 1538-4357 (eISSN)
Vol. 1000 2 231Subject Categories (SSIF 2025)
Astronomy, Astrophysics, and Cosmology
Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences
DOI
10.3847/1538-4357/ae34af