First M87 Event Horizon Telescope Results. V. Physical Origin of the Asymmetric Ring
Artikel i vetenskaplig tidskrift, 2019
The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) has mapped the central compact radio source of the elliptical galaxy M87 at 1.3 mm with unprecedented angular resolution. Here we consider the physical implications of the asymmetric ring seen in the 2017 EHT data. To this end, we construct a large library of models based on general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic (GRMHD) simulations and synthetic images produced by general relativistic ray tracing. We compare the observed visibilities with this library and confirm that the asymmetric ring is consistent with earlier predictions of strong gravitational lensing of synchrotron emission from a hot plasma orbiting near the black hole event horizon. The ring radius and ring asymmetry depend on black hole mass and spin, respectively, and both are therefore expected to be stable when observed in future EHT campaigns. Overall, the observed image is consistent with expectations for the shadow of a spinning Kerr black hole as predicted by general relativity. If the black hole spin and M87's large scale jet are aligned, then the black hole spin vector is pointed away from Earth. Models in our library of non-spinning black holes are inconsistent with the observations as they do not produce sufficiently powerful jets. At the same time, in those models that produce a sufficiently powerful jet, the latter is powered by extraction of black hole spin energy through mechanisms akin to the Blandford-Znajek process. We briefly consider alternatives to a black hole for the central compact object. Analysis of existing EHT polarization data and data taken simultaneously at other wavelengths will soon enable new tests of the GRMHD models, as will future EHT campaigns at 230 and 345 GHz.
galaxies: jets magnetohydrodynamics (MHD)
techniques: high angular resolution
accretion, accretion disks
galaxies: individual (M87)
black hole physics
Författare
Kazunori Akiyama
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
National Radio Astronomy Observatory
Harvard University
Antxon Alberdi
Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Walter Alef
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
Keiichi Asada
Academia Sinica
Rebecca Azulay
Universitat de Valencia
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
Anne-Kathrin Baczko
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
David Ball
University of Arizona
Mislav Balokovic
Harvard University
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
John Barrett
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Dan Bintley
East Asian Observatory
Lindy Blackburn
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Harvard University
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
Michael Bremer
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
Christiaan D. Brinkerink
Radboud Universiteit
Roger Brissenden
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Harvard University
Silke Britzen
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
Avery E. Broderick
University of Waterloo
Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
Dominique Broguiere
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
Thomas Bronzwaer
Radboud Universiteit
Do-Young Byun
University of Science and Technology (UST)
Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute
John E. Carlstrom
University of Chicago
Andrew Chael
Harvard University
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Chi-kwan Chan
University of Arizona
Shami Chatterjee
Cornell University
Koushik Chatterjee
Universiteit Van Amsterdam
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
University of Arizona
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
John Conway
Chalmers, Rymd-, geo- och miljövetenskap, Onsala rymdobservatorium
James M. Cordes
Cornell University
Geoffrey B. Crew
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Yuzhu Cui
The Graduate University for Advanced Studies (SOKENDAI)
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
Jordy Davelaar
Radboud Universiteit
Mariafelicia De Laurentis
Johann Wolfgang Goethe Universität Frankfurt am Main
Universita degli Studi di Napoli Federico II
Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare
Roger Deane
Rhodes University
Universiteit van Pretoria
Jessica Dempsey
East Asian Observatory
Gregory Desvignes
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
Jason Dexter
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
Sheperd S. Doeleman
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Harvard University
Ralph P. Eatough
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
Heino Falcke
Radboud Universiteit
Vincent L. Fish
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Ed Fomalont
National Radio Astronomy Observatory
Raquel Fraga-Encinas
Radboud Universiteit
Per Friberg
East Asian Observatory
Christian M. Fromm
Johann Wolfgang Goethe Universität Frankfurt am Main
Jose L. Gomez
Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Peter Galisonl
National Radio Astronomy Observatory
Harvard University
Charles F. Gammie
University of Illinois
Roberto Garcia
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
Olivier Gentaz
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
Boris Georgiev
University of Waterloo
Ciriaco Goddi
Radboud Universiteit
Universiteit Leiden
Roman Gold
Johann Wolfgang Goethe Universität Frankfurt am Main
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
Michael H. Hecht
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Ronald Hesper
Rijksuniversiteit Groningen
Luis C. Ho
Beijing University of Technology
Paul Ho
Academia Sinica
Mareki Honma
The Graduate University for Advanced Studies (SOKENDAI)
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
Chih-Wei L. Huang
Academia Sinica
Lei Huang
Chinese Academy of Sciences
David H. Hughes
Instituto Nacional de Astrofísica, Óptica y Electrońica
Shiro Ikeda
The Graduate University for Advanced Studies (SOKENDAI)
The Institute of Statistical Mathematics
University of Tokyo
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
Makoto Inoue
Academia Sinica
Sara Issaoun
Radboud Universiteit
David J. James
Harvard University
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Buell T. Jannuzi
University of Arizona
Michael Janssen
Radboud Universiteit
Britton Jeter
University of Waterloo
Wu Jiang
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Michael D. Johnson
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Harvard University
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-Gesellschaft
Tomohisa Kawashima
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
Garrett K. Keating
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Mark Kettenis
Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe (JIVE)
Jae-Young Kim
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
Junhan Kim
University of Arizona
Jongsoo Kim
Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute
Motoki Kino
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
Kogakuin University of Technology and Engineering
Jun Yi Koay
Academia Sinica
Patrick M. Koch
Academia Sinica
Shoko Koyama
Academia Sinica
Michael Kramer
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
Carsten Kramer
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
Thomas P. Krichbaum
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
Cheng-Yu Kuo
National Sun Yat-Sen University
Tod R. Lauer
National Optical Astronomy Observatory
Sang-Sung Lee
Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute
Yan-Rong Li
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Zhiyuan Li
Nanjing University
Michael Lindqvist
Chalmers, Rymd-, geo- och miljövetenskap, Onsala rymdobservatorium
Kuo Liu
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
Elisabetta Liuzzo
Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)
Wen-Ping Lo
Academia Sinica
National Taiwan University
Andrei P. Lobanov
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
Laurent Loinard
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
Colin Lonsdale
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Ru-Sen Lu
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Nicholas R. MacDonald
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
Jirong Mao
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Sera Markoff
Universiteit Van Amsterdam
Daniel P. Marrone
University of Arizona
Alan P. Marscher
Boston University
Ivan Marti-Vidal
Chalmers, Rymd-, geo- och miljövetenskap, Onsala rymdobservatorium
Satoki Matsushita
Academia Sinica
Lynn D. Matthews
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Lia Medeiros
University of Arizona
University of California at Santa Barbara
Karl M. Menten
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
Yosuke Mizuno
Johann Wolfgang Goethe Universität Frankfurt am Main
Izumi Mizuno
East Asian Observatory
James M. Moran
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Harvard University
Kotaro Moriyama
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
Monika Moscibrodzka
Radboud Universiteit
Cornelia Muller
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
Radboud Universiteit
Hiroshi Nagai
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
The Graduate University for Advanced Studies (SOKENDAI)
Neil M. Nagar
Universidad de Concepción
Masanori Nakamura
Academia Sinica
Ramesh Narayan
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Harvard University
Gopal Narayanan
University of Massachusetts
Iniyan Natarajan
Rhodes University
Roberto Neri
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
Chunchong Ni
University of Waterloo
Aristeidis Noutsos
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
Hiroki Okino
University of Tokyo
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
Hector Olivares
Johann Wolfgang Goethe Universität Frankfurt am Main
Tomoaki Oyama
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
Feryal Ozel
University of Arizona
Daniel C. M. Palumbo
Harvard University
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Nimesh Patel
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Ue-Li Pen
Canadian Institute for Advanced Research
University of Toronto
Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
Dominic W. Pesce
Harvard University
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Vincent Pietu
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
Richard Plambeck
University of California at Berkeley
Aleksandar PopStefanija
University of Massachusetts
Oliver Porth
Johann Wolfgang Goethe Universität Frankfurt am Main
Universiteit Van Amsterdam
Ben Prather
University of Illinois
Jorge A. Preciado-Lopez
Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
Dimitrios Psaltis
University of Arizona
Hung-Yi Pu
Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
Venkatessh Ramakrishnan
Universidad de Concepción
Ramprasad Rao
Academia Sinica
Mark G. Rawlings
East Asian Observatory
Alexander W. Raymond
Harvard University
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Luciano Rezzolla
Johann Wolfgang Goethe Universität Frankfurt am Main
Bart Ripperda
Johann Wolfgang Goethe Universität Frankfurt am Main
Freek Roelofs
Radboud Universiteit
Alan Rogers
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Eduardo Ros
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
Mel Rose
University of Arizona
Arash Roshanineshat
University of Arizona
Helge Rottmann
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
Alan L. Roy
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
Chet Ruszczyk
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Benjamin R. Ryan
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Kazi L. J. Rygl
Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)
Salvador Sanchez
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
David Sanchez-Arguelles
Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnologia Mexico
Instituto Nacional de Astrofísica, Óptica y Electrońica
Mahito Sasada
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
Hiroshima University
Tuomas Savolainen
Aalto-Yliopisto
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
F. Peter Schloerb
University of Massachusetts
Karl-Friedrich Schuster
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
Lijing Shao
Beijing University of Technology
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
Zhiqiang Shen
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Des Small
Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe (JIVE)
Bong Won Sohn
Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute
University of Science and Technology (UST)
Yonsei University
Jason SooHoo
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Fumie Tazaki
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
Paul Tiede
University of Waterloo
Remo P. J. Tilanus
Universiteit Leiden
Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (NWO)
Radboud Universiteit
Michael Titus
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Kenji Toma
Tohoku University
Pablo Torne
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
Tyler Trent
University of Arizona
Sascha Trippe
Seoul National University
Shuichiro Tsuda
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
Ilse van Bemmel
Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe (JIVE)
Huib Jan van Langevelde
Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe (JIVE)
Universiteit Leiden
Daniel R. van Rossum
Radboud Universiteit
Jan Wagner
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
John Wardle
Brandeis University
Jonathan Weintroub
Harvard University
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Norbert Wex
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
Robert Wharton
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
Maciek Wielgus
Harvard University
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
George N. Wong
University of Illinois
Qingwen Wu
Huazhong University of Science and Technology
Andre Young
Radboud Universiteit
Ken Young
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Ziri Younsi
Johann Wolfgang Goethe Universität Frankfurt am Main
University College London (UCL)
Feng Yuan
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Ye-Fei Yuan
University of Science and Technology of China
J. Anton Zensus
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
Guangyao Zhao
Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute
Shan-Shan Zhao
Radboud Universiteit
Nanjing University
Ziyan Zhu
Harvard University
Jadyn Anczarski
Villanova University
Frederick K. Baganoff
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Andreas Eckart
Universität zu Köln
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
Joseph R. Farah
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Harvard University
University of Massachusetts Boston
Daryl Haggard
McGill University
Canadian Institute for Advanced Research
Zheng Meyer-Zhao
Academia Sinica
Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy (ASTRON)
Daniel Michalik
European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESA ESTEC)
University of Chicago
Andrew Nadolski
University of Illinois
Joseph Neilsen
Villanova University
Hiroaki Nishioka
Academia Sinica
Michael A. Nowak
Washington University in St. Louis
Nicolas Pradel
Academia Sinica
Rurik A. Primiani
Systems & Technology Research
Kamal Souccar
University of Massachusetts
Laura Vertatschitsch
Systems & Technology Research
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Paul Yamaguchi
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Shuo Zhang
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Astrophysical Journal Letters
2041-8205 (ISSN) 2041-8213 (eISSN)
Vol. 875 1 L5Ämneskategorier
Astronomi, astrofysik och kosmologi
DOI
10.3847/2041-8213/ab0f43