First Sagittarius A* Event Horizon Telescope Results. IV. Variability, Morphology, and Black Hole Mass

In this paper we quantify the temporal variability and image morphology of the horizon-scale emission from Sgr A*, as observed by the EHT in 2017 April at a wavelength of 1.3 mm. We find that the Sgr A* data exhibit variability that exceeds what can be explained by the uncertainties in the data or by the effects of interstellar scattering. The magnitude of this variability can be a substantial fraction of the correlated flux density, reaching $\sim$100\% on some baselines. Through an exploration of simple geometric source models, we demonstrate that ring-like morphologies provide better fits to the Sgr A* data than do other morphologies with comparable complexity. We develop two strategies for fitting static geometric ring models to the time-variable Sgr A* data; one strategy fits models to short segments of data over which the source is static and averages these independent fits, while the other fits models to the full dataset using a parametric model for the structural variability power spectrum around the average source structure. Both geometric modeling and image-domain feature extraction techniques determine the ring diameter to be $51.8 \pm 2.3$ $\mu$as (68\% credible intervals), with the ring thickness constrained to have an FWHM between $\sim$30\% and 50\% of the ring diameter. To bring the diameter measurements to a common physical scale, we calibrate them using synthetic data generated from GRMHD simulations. This calibration constrains the angular size of the gravitational radius to be $4.8_{-0.7}^{+1.4}$ \mathrm{\mu as}, which we combine with an independent distance measurement from maser parallaxes to determine the mass of Sgr A* to be $4.0_{-0.6}^{+1.1} \times 10^6$ M$_{\odot}$.Comment: 65 pages, 35 figures, published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters on May 12, 2022. See the published paper for the full authors lis

First M87 Event Horizon Telescope Results. IX. Detection of Near-horizon Circular Polarization

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 ($\langle|v|\rangle < 3.7\%$), consistent with the low image-integrated circular polarization fraction measured by the ALMA array ($|v_{\rm int}| < 1\%$). Despite this broad agreement, the methods show substantial variation in the morphology of the circularly polarized emission, indicating that our conclusions are strongly dependent upon 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 (GRMHD) 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*.Comment: 47 pages, 31 figures, published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters on Nov. 8, 2023. See the published paper for the full authors lis

Observing---and Imaging---Active Galactic Nuclei with the Event Horizon Telescope

Originally developed to image the shadow region of the central black hole in Sagittarius A* and in the nearby galaxy M87, the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) provides deep, very high angular resolution data on other AGN sources too. The challenges of working with EHT data have spurred the development of new image reconstruction algorithms. This work briefly reviews the status of the EHT and its utility for observing AGN sources, with emphasis on novel imaging techniques that offer the promise of better reconstructions at 1.3 mm and other wavelengths.Comment: 10 pages, proceedings contribution for Blazars through Sharp Multi-Wavelength Eyes, submitted to Galaxie

Quantitative symmetry breaking of groundstates for a class of weighted Emden–Fowler equations

We prove that symmetrybreaking occurs in dimensions N ≥ 3 for the groundstate solutions to a class of Emden-Fowler equa-tions on the unit ball, with Dirichlet boundary conditions. We show that this phenomenon occurs forlarge values of a certain exponent for a radial weight function appearing in the equation. The problemreads as a possibly large perturbation of the classical H ́enon equation. In particular we consider aweight function having a spherical shell of zeroes centred at the origin and of radius R. A quantitativecondition on R for this phenomenon to occur is given by means of universal constants, such as thebest constant for the subcritical Sobolev embedding

Polarimetric Geometric Modeling for mm-VLBI Observations of Black Holes

The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) is a millimeter very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) array that has imaged the apparent shadows of the supermassive black holes M87* and Sagittarius A*. Polarimetric data from these observations contain a wealth of information on the black hole and accretion flow properties. In this work, we develop polarimetric geometric modeling methods for mm-VLBI data, focusing on approaches that fit data products with differing degrees of invariance to broad classes of calibration errors. We establish a fitting procedure using a polarimetric "m-ring" model to approximate the image structure near a black hole. By fitting this model to synthetic EHT data from general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic models, we show that the linear and circular polarization structure can be successfully approximated with relatively few model parameters. We then fit this model to EHT observations of M87* taken in 2017. In total intensity and linear polarization, the m-ring fits are consistent with previous results from imaging methods. In circular polarization, the m-ring fits indicate the presence of event-horizon-scale circular polarization structure, with a persistent dipolar asymmetry and orientation across several days. The same structure was recovered independently of observing band, used data products, and model assumptions. Despite this broad agreement, imaging methods do not produce similarly consistent results. Our circular polarization results, which imposed additional assumptions on the source structure, should thus be interpreted with some caution. Polarimetric geometric modeling provides a useful and powerful method to constrain the properties of horizon-scale polarized emission, particularly for sparse arrays like the EHT.Comment: 34 pages, 15 figures, published in The Astrophysical Journal Letter

Multiwavelength View of the M87 Black Hole Captured by the Event Horizon Telescope

In 2017, the first image of the center of the M87 galaxy was captured by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT). It revealed a ring morphology and a size consistent with theoretical expectations for the light pattern around a weakly accreting supermassive black hole of ~6.5 billion solar masses. In parallel to the EHT measurements, an extensive multi-wavelength (MWL) campaign with ground- and space-based facilities from radio all the way up to the TeV energy range was organized. In this note we will give an overview of the results from this campaign. M87 was found to be in a historically low state. At X-ray energies the emission from the core dominates over HST-1. We present the most complete simultaneous, MWL spectrum of the active nucleus to date

First M87 Event Horizon Telescope Results. I. The Shadow of the Supermassive Black Hole

When surrounded by a transparent emission region, black holes are expected to reveal a dark shadow caused by gravitational light bending and photon capture at the event horizon. To image and study this phenomenon, we have assembled the Event Horizon Telescope, a global very long baseline interferometry array observing at a wavelength of 1.3 mm. This allows us to reconstruct event-horizon-scale images of the supermassive black hole candidate in the center of the giant elliptical galaxy M87. We have resolved the central compact radio source as an asymmetric bright emission ring with a diameter of 42 ± 3 μas, which is circular and encompasses a central depression in brightness with a flux ratio 10:1. The emission ring is recovered using different calibration and imaging schemes, with its diameter and width remaining stable over four different observations carried out in different days. Overall, the observed image is consistent with expectations for the shadow of a Kerr black hole as predicted by general relativity. The asymmetry in brightness in the ring can be explained in terms of relativistic beaming of the emission from a plasma rotating close to the speed of light around a black hole. We compare our images to an extensive library of ray-traced general-relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulations of black holes and derive a central mass of M = (6.5 ± 0.7) × 109 Me. Our radiowave observations thus provide powerful evidence for the presence of supermassive black holes in centers of galaxies and as the central engines of active galactic nuclei. They also present a new tool to explore gravity in its most extreme limit and on a mass scale that was so far not accessible