First M87 Event Horizon Telescope Results. IX. Detection of Near-horizon Circular Polarization
Artikel i vetenskaplig tidskrift, 2023

Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) observations have revealed a bright ring of emission around the supermassive black hole at the center of the M87 galaxy. EHT images in linear polarization have further identified a coherent spiral pattern around the black hole, produced from ordered magnetic fields threading the emitting plasma. Here we present the first analysis of circular polarization using EHT data, acquired in 2017, which can potentially provide additional insights into the magnetic fields and plasma composition near the black hole. Interferometric closure quantities provide convincing evidence for the presence of circularly polarized emission on event-horizon scales. We produce images of the circular polarization using both traditional and newly developed methods. All methods find a moderate level of resolved circular polarization across the image (〈|v|〉 < 3.7%), consistent with the low image-integrated circular polarization fraction measured by the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (|vint| < 1%). Despite this broad agreement, the methods show substantial variation in the morphology of the circularly polarized emission, indicating that our conclusions are strongly dependent on the imaging assumptions because of the limited baseline coverage, uncertain telescope gain calibration, and weakly polarized signal. We include this upper limit in an updated comparison to general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulation models. This analysis reinforces the previously reported preference for magnetically arrested accretion flow models. We find that most simulations naturally produce a low level of circular polarization consistent with our upper limit and that Faraday conversion is likely the dominant production mechanism for circular polarization at 230 GHz in M87*

Författare

Kazunori Akiyama

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Antxon Alberdi

Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucía (IAA)

Walter Alef

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft

Juan-Carlos Algaba

University of Malaya

Richard Anantua

Harvard University

K. Asada

Academia Sinica

R. Azulay

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft

U. Bach

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft

A. K. Baczko

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft

David Ball

University of Arizona

Mislav Baloković

Yale University

John Barrett

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

M. Bauböck

University of Illinois

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

Hope Boyce

McGill University

M. Bremer

Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)

C. D. Brinkerink

Radboud Universiteit

Roger Brissenden

Harvard University

Silke Britzen

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft

Avery E. Broderick

Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics

D. Broguière

Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)

Thomas Bronzwaer

Radboud Universiteit

Sandra Bustamente

University of Massachusetts

Do Young Byun

Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute

J. E. Carlstrom

University of Chicago

Chiara Ceccobello

Chalmers, Rymd-, geo- och miljövetenskap, Astronomi och plasmafysik

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

Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucía (IAA)

Pierre Christian

Fairfield University

Nicholas S. Conroy

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

John Conway

Chalmers, Rymd-, geo- och miljövetenskap, Onsala rymdobservatorium

James M. Cordes

Cornell University

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

Rohan Dahale

Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucía (IAA)

Jordy Davelaar

Radboud Universiteit

Mariafelicia De Laurentis

Johann Wolfgang Goethe Universität Frankfurt am Main

R. P. Deane

University of Witwatersrand

Jessica Dempsey

East Asian Observatory

Gregory Desvignes

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft

Jason Dexter

JILA

Vedant Dhruv

University of Illinois

S. Doeleman

Harvard University

Sean Dougal

University of Arizona

Sergio A. Dzib

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft

Ralph P. Eatough

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft

Razieh Emami

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

H.D. Falcke

Radboud Universiteit

Joseph R. Farah

Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network

V. Fish

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

E. Fomalont

National Radio Astronomy Observatory

H. Alyson Ford

University of Arizona

Marianna Foschi

Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucía (IAA)

R. Fraga-Encinas

Radboud Universiteit

William T. Freeman

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

P. Friberg

East Asian Observatory

Christian M. Fromm

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft

Antonio Fuentes

Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucía (IAA)

Peter Galison

Harvard University

Charles F. Gammie

University of Illinois

Roberto Garcia

Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)

Olivier Gentaz

Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)

Boris Georgiev

Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics

C. Goddi

Universidade de Sao Paulo (USP)

R. Gold

Syddansk Universitet

Arturo I. Gómez-Ruiz

Instituto Nacional de Astrofísica, Óptica y Electrońica

J. L. Gomez

Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucía (IAA)

Minfeng Gu

Shanghai Astronomical Observatory

M. Gurwell

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

K. Hada

National Astronomical Observatory of Japan

Daryl Haggard

McGill University

Kari Haworth

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

Michael H. Hecht

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

R. Hesper

Rijksuniversiteit 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

Instituto Nacional de Astrofísica, Óptica y Electrońica

Shiro Ikeda

National Astronomical Observatory of Japan

C.M. Violette 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-Gesellschaft

Britton Jeter

Academia Sinica

Wu Jiang

Shanghai Astronomical Observatory

Alejandra Jimenez-Rosales

Radboud Universiteit

Michael D. Johnson

Harvard University

S.G. Jorstad

Boston University

Abhishek V. Joshi

University of Illinois

Taehyun Jung

Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute

Mansour Karami

Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics

R. Karuppusamy

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft

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-Gesellschaft

Jae-Young Kim

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft

Jongsoo Kim

Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute

Junhan Kim

California Institute of Technology (Caltech)

M. Kino

National Astronomical Observatory of Japan

Jun Yi Koay

Academia Sinica

Prashant Kocherlakota

Johann Wolfgang Goethe Universität Frankfurt am Main

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-Gesellschaft

M. Kramer

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft

T.P. Krichbaum

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft

Greg Lindahl

Academia Sinica

Michael Lindqvist

Radboud Universiteit

Tod R. Lauer

National Optical Astronomy Observatory

Daeyoung Lee

University of Illinois

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

Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucía (IAA)

Greg Lindahl

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

Michael Lindqvist

Chalmers, Rymd-, geo- och miljövetenskap, Onsala rymdobservatorium

Mikhail Lisakov

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft

Jun Liu

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft

Kuo Liu

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft

Elisabetta Liuzzo

Istituto di Radioastronomia

Wen-Ping Lo

Academia Sinica

A. P. Lobanov

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft

L. Loinard

Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México

Colin Lonsdale

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Amy E. Lowitz

University of Arizona

R.S. Lu

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft

N. R. Macdonald

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft

Jirong Mao

Yunnan Observatories

Nicola Marchili

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft

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-Gesellschaft

Daniel Michalik

University of Chicago

Izumi Mizuno

East Asian Observatory

Yosuke Mizuno

Johann Wolfgang Goethe Universität Frankfurt am Main

James M. Moran

Harvard University

Kotaro Moriyama

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

M. Mościbrodzka

Radboud Universiteit

Wanga Mulaudzi

Anton Pannekoek Institute for Astronomy

C. Müller

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft

Hendrik Müller

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft

A. Mus

Universitat de Valencia

Gibwa Musoke

Radboud Universiteit

I. Myserlis

Shanghai Jiao Tong University

Andrew Nadolski

University of Illinois

H. Nagai

National Astronomical Observatory of Japan

N. M. Nagar

Universidad de Concepción

Masanori Nakamura

Academia Sinica

Ramesh Narayan

Harvard University

Gopal Narayanan

University of Massachusetts

Iniyan Natarajan

Harvard University

Antonios Nathanail

Johann Wolfgang Goethe Universität Frankfurt am Main

Santiago Navarro Fuentes

Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)

Joey Neilsen

Villanova University

R. Neri

Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)

Chunchong Ni

Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics

A. Noutsos

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft

Michael A. Nowak

Washington University in St. Louis

Junghwan Oh

Sejong University

Hiroki Okino

National Astronomical Observatory of Japan

Héctor Olivares

Radboud Universiteit

G.N. Ortiz-León

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft

Tomoaki Oyama

National Astronomical Observatory of Japan

Feryal Özel

Georgia Institute of Technology

Daniel C.M. Palumbo

Harvard University

Georgios Filippos Paraschos

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft

Jongho Park

Kyung Hee University

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

Johann Wolfgang Goethe Universität Frankfurt am Main

Felix M. Pötzl

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft

Ben Prather

University of Illinois

Jorge A. Preciado-López

Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics

Dimitrios Psaltis

Georgia Institute of Technology

Hung-Yi Pu

Academia Sinica

Venkatessh Ramakrishnan

Universidad de Concepción

R. Rao

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

M.G. Rawlings

East Asian Observatory

Alexander W. Raymond

Harvard University

Luciano Rezzolla

Johann Wolfgang Goethe Universität Frankfurt am Main

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

Eduardo Ros

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft

Arash Roshanineshat

University of Arizona

H. Rottmann

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft

A. Roy

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft

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

Instituto Nacional de Astrofísica, Óptica y Electrońica

M. Sánchez Portal

Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)

Mahito Sasada

National Astronomical Observatory of Japan

Kaushik Satapathy

University of Arizona

T. Savolainen

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft

T. Savolainen

University of Massachusetts

Jonathan Schonfeld

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

K. Schuster

Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)

Lijing Shao

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft

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

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-Gesellschaft

Teresa Toscano

Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucía (IAA)

E. Traianou

Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucía (IAA)

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

Universiteit Leiden

Daniel R. van Rossum

Radboud Universiteit

Jesse Vos

Radboud Universiteit

Jan Wagner

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft

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-Gesellschaft

M. Wielgus

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft

K. Wiik

Tuorla Observatory

Gunther Witzel

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft

Michael F. Wondrak

Radboud Universiteit

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 Universiteit

Doosoo Yoon

Anton Pannekoek Institute for Astronomy

A. Young

Radboud Universiteit

K. Young

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

Ziri Younsi

Johann Wolfgang Goethe Universität Frankfurt am Main

Wei Yu

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

Feng Yuan

Shanghai Astronomical Observatory

Ye-Fei Yuan

University of Science and Technology of China

A.J. Zensus

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft

Shuo Zhang

Michigan State University

G. Y. Zhao

Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucía (IAA)

Shan-Shan Zhao

Shanghai Astronomical Observatory

Astrophysical Journal Letters

2041-8205 (ISSN) 2041-8213 (eISSN)

Vol. 957 2 L20

RadioNet 4

Europeiska kommissionen (EU) (EC/H2020/730562), 2017-01-01 -- 2020-12-31.

Onsala rymdobservatorium infrastruktur

Vetenskapsrådet (VR) (2017-00648), 2018-01-01 -- 2021-12-31.

Ämneskategorier

Astronomi, astrofysik och kosmologi

DOI

10.3847/2041-8213/acff70

Mer information

Senast uppdaterat

2024-01-25