A ring-like accretion structure in M87 connecting its black hole and jet | Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía

DOI:

10.1038/s41586-023-05843-w

Publication date:

13/04/2023

Main author:

Lu, Ru-Sen

IAA authors:

Gómez, José L.;Traianou, Efthalia

Authors:

Lu, Ru-Sen;Asada, Keiichi;Krichbaum, Thomas P.;Park, Jongho;Tazaki, Fumie;Pu, Hung-Yi;Nakamura, Masanori;Lobanov, Andrei;Hada, Kazuhiro;Akiyama, Kazunori;Kim, Jae-Young;Marti-Vidal, Ivan;Gómez, José L.;Kawashima, Tomohisa;Yuan, Feng;Ros, Eduardo;Alef, Walter;Britzen, Silke;Bremer, Michael;Broderick, Avery E.;Doi, Akihiro;Giovannini, Gabriele;Giroletti, Marcello;Ho, Paul T. P.;Honma, Mareki;Hughes, David H.;Inoue, Makoto;Jiang, Wu;Kino, Motoki;Koyama, Shoko;Lindqvist, Michael;Liu, Jun;Marscher, Alan P.;Matsushita, Satoki;Nagai, Hiroshi;Rottmann, Helge;Savolainen, Tuomas;Schuster, Karl-Friedrich;Shen, Zhi-Qiang;de Vicente, Pablo;Walker, R. Craig;Yang, Hai;Zensus, J. Anton;Algaba, Juan Carlos;Allardi, Alexander;Bach, Uwe;Berthold, Ryan;Bintley, Dan;Byun, Do-Young;Casadio, Carolina;Chang, Shu-Hao;Chang, Chih-Cheng;Chang, Song-Chu;Chen, Chung-Chen;Chen, Ming-Tang;Chilson, Ryan;Chuter, Tim C.;Conway, John;Crew, Geoffrey B.;Dempsey, Jessica T.;Dornbusch, Sven;Faber, Aaron;Friberg, Per;García, Javier González;Garrido, Miguel Gómez;Han, Chih-Chiang;Han, Kuo-Chang;Hasegawa, Yutaka;Herrero-Illana, Ruben;Huang, Yau-De;Huang, Chih-Wei L.;Impellizzeri, Violette;Jiang, Homin;Jinchi, Hao;Jung, Taehyun;Kallunki, Juha;Kirves, Petri;Kimura, Kimihiro;Koay, Jun Yi;Koch, Patrick M.;Kramer, Carsten;Kraus, Alex;Kubo, Derek;Kuo, Cheng-Yu;Li, Chao-Te;Lin, Lupin Chun-Che;Liu, Ching-Tang;Liu, Kuan-Yu;Lo, Wen-Ping;Lu, Li-Ming;MacDonald, Nicholas;Martin-Cocher, Pierre;Messias, Hugo;Meyer-Zhao, Zheng;Minter, Anthony;Nair, Dhanya G.;Nishioka, Hiroaki;Norton, Timothy J.;Nystrom, George;Ogawa, Hideo;Oshiro, Peter;Patel, Nimesh A.;Pen, Ue-Li;Pidopryhora, Yurii;Pradel, Nicolas;Raffin, Philippe A.;Rao, Ramprasad;Ruiz, Ignacio;Sanchez, Salvador;Shaw, Paul;Snow, William;Sridharan, T. K.;Srinivasan, Ranjani;Tercero, Belén;Torne, Pablo;Traianou, Efthalia;Wagner, Jan;Walther, Craig;Wei, Ta-Shun;Yang, Jun;Yu, Chen-Yu

Journal:

Nature

Publication type:

Article

Volume:

616

Pages:

686

Abstract:

The nearby radio galaxy M87 is a prime target for studying black hole accretion and jet formation1,2. Event Horizon Telescope observations of M87 in 2017, at a wavelength of 1.3 mm, revealed a ring-like structure, which was interpreted as gravitationally lensed emission around a central black hole3. Here we report images of M87 obtained in 2018, at a wavelength of 3.5 mm, showing that the compact radio core is spatially resolved. High-resolution imaging shows a ring-like structure of 8.4−1.1+0.5 Schwarzschild radii in diameter, approximately 50% larger than that seen at 1.3 mm. The outer edge at 3.5 mm is also larger than that at 1.3 mm. This larger and thicker ring indicates a substantial contribution from the accretion flow with absorption effects, in addition to the gravitationally lensed ring-like emission. The images show that the edge-brightened jet connects to the accretion flow of the black hole. Close to the black hole, the emission profile of the jet-launching region is wider than the expected profile of a black-hole-driven jet, suggesting the possible presence of a wind associated with the accretion flow.

Database:

ADS

URL:

https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/#abs/2023Natur.616..686L/abstract

ADS Bibcode:

2023Natur.616..686L

Keywords:

Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena;Astrophysics - Astrophysics of Galaxies;General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology