The recent VLBI observation of the Galactic center black hole candidate Sgr A* at 1.3mm shows source structure on event-horizon scales. This detection enables a direct comparison of the emission region with models of the accretion flow onto the black hole. We present the first results from time-dependent radiative transfer of general relativistic MHD simulation data, and compare simulated synchrotron images at black hole spin a=0.9 with the VLBI measurements. After tuning the accretion rate to match the millimeter flux, we find excellent agreement between predicted and observed visibilities, even when viewed face-on (i < 30 degrees). VLBI measurements on 2000-3000km baselines should constrain the inclination. The data constrain the accretion rate to be (1.0-2.3)x10^-9 M_sun / yr with 99% confidence, consistent with but independent of prior estimates derived from spectroscopic and polarimetric measurements. Finally, we compute light curves, which show that magnetic turbulence can directly produce flaring events with .5 hour rise times, 2-3.5 hour durations and 40-50% flux modulation, in agreement with observations of Sgr A* at millimeter wavelengths.
High-resolution very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) radio observations have resolved the detailed emission structures of active galactic nucleus jets. General relativistic magnetohydrodynamic (GRMHD) simulations have improved the understanding of jet production physics, although theoretical studies still have difficulties in constraining the origin and distribution of jetted matter. We construct a new steady, axisymmetric GRMHD jet model to obtain approximate solutions of black hole (BH) magnetospheres, and examine the matter density distribution of jets. By assuming fixed poloidal magnet…
VLBI Detections of Compact Nuclei in Spiral-hosted Double-lobed Radio-loud Active Galactic Nuclei (DRAGNs): Evidence for Weak Parsec-Scale Jet Activity
Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST)（蔚山科学技术院）
Multi-epoch VLBI observations of the blazar 3C 66A: Spatial twisting and temporal oscillation of the parsec-scale jet
Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute（韩国天文与空间科学研究所）；LUX, Observatoire de Paris, Université PSL, CNRS, Sorbonne Université（巴黎天文台，PSL大学，法国国家科学研究中心，索邦大学）；Department of Astronomy & Center for Galaxy Evolution Research, Yonsei University（延世大学天文学系与星系演化研究中心）；Max-Planck Institut für Radioastronomie（马克斯·普朗克射电天文研究所）；Korea National University of Science and Technology（韩国科学技术院）
Over the past few decades, our knowledge of jets produced by active galactic nuclei (AGN) has greatly progressed thanks to the development of very-long-baseline interferometry (VLBI). Nevertheless, the crucial mechanisms involved in the formation of the plasma flow, as well as those driving its exceptional radiative output up to TeV energies, remain to be clarified. Most likely, these physical processes take place at short separations from the supermassive black hole, on scales which are inaccessible to VLBI observations at centimeter wavelengths. Due to their high synchrotron opacity, the den…
Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) at sub-millimeter waves has the potential to image the shadow of the black hole in the Galactic Center, Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*), and thereby test basic predictions of the theory of general relativity. We investigate the imaging prospects of a new Space VLBI mission concept. The setup consists of two satellites in polar or equatorial circular Medium-Earth Orbits with slightly different radii, resulting in a dense spiral-shaped uv-coverage with long baselines, allowing for extremely high-resolution and high-fidelity imaging of radio sources. We simulate o…
The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) will soon provide the first high-resolution images of the Galactic Centre supermassive black hole (SMBH) candidate Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*), enabling us to probe gravity in the strong-field regime. Besides studying the accretion process in extreme environments, the obtained data and reconstructed images could be used to investigate the underlying spacetime structure. In its current configuration, the EHT is able to distinguish between a rotating Kerr black hole and a horizon-less object like a boson star. Future developments can increase the ability of the EHT …
It has been proposed that Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) at sub-millimeter waves will allow us to image the shadow of the black hole in the center of our Milky Way, Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*), and thereby test basic predictions of general relativity. This paper presents imaging simulations of a new Space VLBI mission concept. An initial design study of the concept has been presented as the Event Horizon Imager (EHI). The EHI may be suitable for imaging Sgr A* at high frequencies (up to ~690 GHz), which has significant advantages over performing ground-based VLBI at 230 GHz. The concept …
High-frequency very-long-baseline interferometry (VLBI) observations can now resolve the horizon-scale emission from sources in the immediate vicinity of nearby supermassive black holes. Future space-VLBI observations will access highly lensed features of black hole images -- photon rings -- that will provide particularly sharp probes of strong-field gravity. Focusing on the particular case of the supermassive black hole M87*, our goal is to explore a wide variety of accretion flows onto a Kerr black hole and to understand their corresponding images and visibilities. We are particularly intere…
In this work, we study how to infer the orbit of a supermassive black hole binary (SMBHB) by time-dependent measurements with Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI), such as the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT). Assuming a point-like luminosity image model, we show that with multiple years of observations by EHT, it is possible to recover the SMBHB orbital parameters -- eccentricity, (rescaled) semi-major axis, orbital frequency, and orbital angles -- from their time-varying visibilities even if the binaries orbital period is a few times longer than the duration of observation. Together with th…
Realistic synthetic observations of theoretical source models are essential for our understanding of real observational data. In using synthetic data, one can verify the extent to which source parameters can be recovered and evaluate how various data corruption effects can be calibrated. These studies are important when proposing observations of new sources, in the characterization of the capabilities of new or upgraded instruments, and when verifying model-based theoretical predictions in a comparison with observational data. We present the SYnthetic Measurement creator for long Baseline Arra…
Supermassive black-hole imaging with a self-consistent electron-temperature prescription
Instituto de Astronomía, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México（墨西哥国立自治大学天文学研究所）；Institut für Theoretische Physik, Goethe Universität（歌德大学理论物理研究所）；Institut für Theoretische Physik und Astrophysik, Universität Würzburg（维尔茨堡大学理论物理与天体物理研究所）；Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie（马克斯·普朗克射电天文研究所）；Tsung-Dao Lee Institute and School of Physics and Astronomy, Shanghai Jiao Tong University（上海交通大学李政道理论与粒子物理研究所及物理与天文学院）；Dipartimento di Fisica, Università della Calabria（卡塔尼亚大学物理系）；Research Center for Astronomy and Applied Mathematics, Academy of Athens（雅典科学院天文学与应用数学研究中心）；Mullard Space Science Laboratory, University College London（伦敦大学学院穆拉德空间科学实验室）；CERN, Theoretical Physics Department（欧洲核子研究中心理论物理部）；School of Mathematics, Trinity College, Dublin（都柏林三一学院数学学院）
We perform three-dimensional (3D) general-relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulations to model the jet break-out from the ejecta expected to be produced in a binary neutron-star merger. The structure of the relativistic outflow from the 3D simulation confirms our previous results from 2D simulations, namely, that a relativistic magnetized outflow breaking out from the merger ejecta exhibits a hollow core of $θ_{\rm core}\approx4^{\circ}$, an opening angle of $θ_{\rm jet}\gtrsim10^{\circ}$, and is accompanied by a wind of ejected matter that will contribute to the kilonova emission. We also co…
The spectacular images of the M87 black hole taken by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) have opened a new era of black hole research. One of the next issues is to take polarization images around the central black hole (BH). Since radio emission is produced by synchrotron process, polarization properties should vividly reflect the magnetic field structure at the jet base and thus provide good information regarding the magnetic mechanism of jet formation. With this kept in mind we perform general relativistic (GR) radiative transfer calculations of polarized light based on the GR magnetohydrodyn…
