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First Sagittarius A* Event Horizon Telescope Results. I. The Shadow of the Supermassive Black Hole in the Center of the Milky Way

The Astrophysical Journal Letters · 2022 · Vol. 930(2) · pp. L12–L12
Kazunori AkiyamaA. AlberdiW. AlefJuan Carlos AlgabaRichard AnantuaKeiichi AsadaRebecca AzulayU. BachAnne-Kathrin BaczkoDavid BallMislav BalokovićJohn BarrettMichi BauböckB. A. BensonDan BintleyLindy BlackburnR. BlundellKatherine L. BoumanGeoffrey C. BowerHope BoyceMichael BremerChristiaan D. BrinkerinkRoger BrissendenS. BritzenAvery E. BroderickDominique BroguièreThomas BronzwaerSandra BustamanteDo‐Young ByunJ. E. CarlstromChiara CeccobelloAndrew ChaelChi‐kwan ChanKoushik ChatterjeeShami ChatterjeeMing‐Tang ChenXiaopeng ChengXiaopeng ChengIlje ChoPierre ChristianNicholas S. ConroyJ. E. ConwayJ. M. CordesT. M. CrawfordG. CrewAlejandro Cruz-OsorioYuzhu CuiJordy DavelaarMariafelicia De LaurentisRoger DeaneJessica DempseyG. DesvignesJason DexterVedant DhruvSheperd S. DoelemanSean DougalSergio A. DzibRalph P. EatoughRazieh EmamiH. FalckeJoseph FarahVincent L. FishEd FomalontH. Alyson FordRaquel Fraga-EncinasWilliam T. FreemanPer FribergChristian M. FrommAntonio FuentesPeter GalisonCharles F. GammieRoberto GarcíaOlivier GentazBoris GeorgievC. GoddiRoman GoldArturo I. Gómez-RuizJosé L. GómezMinfeng GuMark GurwellKazuhiro HadaDaryl HaggardKari HaworthM. H. HechtRonald HesperDirk HeumannLuis C. HoPaul T. P. HoMareki HonmaChih-Wei L. HuangLei HuangD. H. HughesShiro IkedaC. M. Violette ImpellizzeriMakoto InoueSara IssaounD. J. JamesBuell T. JannuziMichaël JanssenBritton JeterWu JiangAlejandra Jiménez-RosalesMichael D. JohnsonSvetlana G. JorstadAbhishek V. JoshiTaehyun JungMansour KaramiR. KaruppusamyTomohisa KawashimaGarrett K. KeatingMark KettenisDong-Jin KimJae-Young KimJongsoo KimJunhan KimMotoki KinoJun Yi KoayPrashant KocherlakotaYutaro KofujiPatrick M. KochShoko KoyamaC. KrämerM. KrämerT. P. KrichbaumCheng‐Yu KuoNoemi La BellaTod R. LauerDaeyoung LeeSang-Sung LeePo Kin LeungAviad LevisZhiyuan 志远 Li 李Rocco LicoGreg LindahlM. LindqvistMikhail LisakovJun 俊 Liu 刘Kuo LiuElisabetta LiuzzoWen-Ping LoA. P. LobanovLaurent LoinardC. J. LonsdaleRu-Sen LuJirong 基荣 Mao 毛N. MarchiliSera MarkoffDaniel P. MarroneAlan P. MarscherIván Martí-VidalSatoki MatsushitaLynn D. MatthewsLia MedeirosK. M. MentenDaniel MichalikIzumi MizunoYosuke MizunoJ. M. MoranKotaro MoriyamaMonika MościbrodzkaCornelia MüllerAlejandro MusGibwa MusokeI. MyserlisAndrew NadolskiHiroshi NagaiNeil M. NagarMasanori NakamuraRamesh NarayanGopal NarayananIniyan NatarajanAntonios NathanailSantiago Navarro FuentesJoey NeilsenR. NeriChunchong NiA. NoutsosMichael A. NowakJunghwan OhHiroki OkinoHéctor OlivaresGisela N. Ortiz-LeónTomoaki OyamaFeryal ÖzelDaniel C. M. PalumboGeorgios Filippos ParaschosJongho ParkHarriet ParsonsNimesh PatelUe‐Li PenDominic W. PesceVincent PiétuR. L. PlambeckAleksandar PopStefanijaOliver PorthFelix M. PötzlBen PratherJorge A. Preciado-LópezDimitrios PsaltisHung-Yi PuVenkatessh RamakrishnanRamprasad RaoMark G. RawlingsAlexander W. RaymondLuciano RezzollaAngelo RicarteBart RipperdaFreek RoelofsA. E. E. RogersE. RosCristina Romero-CañizalesArash RoshanineshatHelge RottmannA. L. RoyIgnacio RuizChet RuszczykK. L. J. RyglSalvador SánchezDavid Sánchez-ArgüellesM. Sánchez‐PortalMahito SasadaKaushik SatapathyT. SavolainenF. Peter SchloerbJonathan SchonfeldK. SchüsterLijing ShaoZhi-Qiang ShenDes SmallBong Won SohnJason SoohooKamal SouccarHe SunFumie TazakiAlexandra J. TetarenkoPaul TiedeR. P. J. TilanusMichael TitusPablo TornéEfthalia TraianouTyler TrentSascha TrippeMatthew TurkIlse van BemmelHuib Jan van LangeveldeDaniel R. van RossumJesse VosJan WagnerD. Ward–ThompsonJ. F. C. WardleJonathan WeintroubNorbert WexRobert WhartonMaciek WielgusK. WiikGunther WitzelMichael F. WondrakGeorge N. WongQingwen 庆文 Wu 吴Paul YamaguchiDoosoo YoonAndré YoungKen YoungZiri YounsiFeng 峰 Yuan 袁Ye-Fei 业飞 Yuan 袁J. A. ZensusShuo ZhangGuang-Yao ZhaoShan-Shan ZhaoC. AgurtoAlexander AllardiRodrigo AmesticaJuan Pablo AranedaOriel ArriagadaJ. BerghuisAlessandra BertariniRyan BertholdJ. BlanchardKen BrownMauricio CárdenasMichael CantzlerPatricio CaroEdgar Castillo-DomínguezTin ChanChih-Cheng ChangDominic O. ChangShu-Hao ChangSong-Chu ChangChung-Chen ChenRyan ChilsonTim C. ChuterMirosław CiechanowiczEdgar Colín-BeltránI. M. CoulsonJoseph CrowleyN. DegenaarSven DornbuschC. DuránW. EverettAaron FaberKarl FörsterMiriam FuchsDavid M. GaleGertie GeertsemaE. Gómez GonzálezDave GrahamFrédéric GuethN. W. HalversonChih-Chiang HanKuo-Chang HanYutaka HasegawaJosé Luis Hernández-RebollarCristian HerreraR. Herrero‐IllanaS. HeyminckAkihiko HirotaJames HogeShelbi R. Hostler SchimpfRyan HowieYau-De HuangHomin JiangH. JinchiJohn DavidKimihiro KimuraThomas KleinDerek KuboJohn KurodaCaleb KwonRichard LacasseR. A. LaingE. M. LeitchChao-Te LiChing-Tang LiuKuan-Yu LiuL. C.-C. LinLi-Ming LuF. Mac-AuliffePierre Martin-CocherCallie MatulonisJohn K. MauteHugo MessiasZheng Meyer-ZhaoAlfredo MontañaF. M. Montenegro‐MontesWilliam MontgomerieMarcos Emir Moreno NolascoD. MudersHiroaki NishiokaTimothy NortonGeorge NystromHideo OgawaRodrigo OlivaresPeter OshiroJ. P. Pérez-BeaupuitsRodrigo ParraN. PhillipsMichael PoirierNicolas PradelRichard QiuPhilippe RaffinA. RahlinJorge RamírezSean M. ResslerM. T. ReynoldsIván Rodríguez-MontoyaAlejandro F. Sáez-MadaínJorge SantanaPaul ShawLeslie E. ShirkeyKevin M. SilvaW. M. SnowDon SousaT. K. SridharanWilliam StahmA. A. StarkJohn TestK. TorstenssonPaulina VenegasCraig WaltherTa-Shun WeiChristopher J. WhiteG. WiechingR. WijnandsJ. G. A. WouterlootChen-Yu YuWei YuMilagros Zeballos

Abstract

Abstract We present the first Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) observations of Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*), the Galactic center source associated with a supermassive black hole. These observations were conducted in 2017 using a global interferometric array of eight telescopes operating at a wavelength of λ = 1.3 mm. The EHT data resolve a compact emission region with intrahour variability. A variety of imaging and modeling analyses all support an image that is dominated by a bright, thick ring with a diameter of 51.8 ± 2.3 μ as (68% credible interval). The ring has modest azimuthal brightness asymmetry and a comparatively dim interior. Using a large suite of numerical simulations, we demonstrate that the EHT images of Sgr A* are consistent with the expected appearance of a Kerr black hole with mass ∼4 × 10 6 M ⊙ , which is inferred to exist at this location based on previous infrared observations of individual stellar orbits, as well as maser proper-motion studies. Our model comparisons disfavor scenarios where the black hole is viewed at high inclination ( i > 50°), as well as nonspinning black holes and those with retrograde accretion disks. Our results provide direct evidence for the presence of a supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way, and for the first time we connect the predictions from dynamical measurements of stellar orbits on scales of 10 3 –10 5 gravitational radii to event-horizon-scale images and variability. Furthermore, a comparison with the EHT results for the supermassive black hole M87* shows consistency with the predictions of general relativity spanning over three orders of magnitude in central mass.

Astrophysical Phenomena and ObservationsAstrophysics and Cosmic PhenomenaPulsars and Gravitational Waves ResearchSagittarius A*Supermassive black holeGalactic CenterMilky WaySagittariusPhysicsEvent horizonAstronomyCenter (category theory)Astrophysics

Funding

  • Vetenskapsrådet
  • Ministry of Education, India
  • China Scholarship Council
  • European Southern Observatory
  • National Science Foundation
  • Smithsonian Institution
  • U.S. Department of Energy
  • National Aeronautics and Space Administration
  • John Templeton Foundation
  • Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
  • University of Chicago
  • University of Arizona
  • National Center for Theoretical Sciences
  • Compute Canada
  • Netherlands eScience Center
  • Space Telescope Science Institute
  • Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades
  • National Radio Astronomy Observatory
  • Associated Universities
  • International Max Planck Research School for Environmental, Cellular and Molecular Microbiology
  • Joint Institute for Computational Fundamental Science
  • Flatiron Health
  • Government of Canada
  • Leverhulme Trust
  • European Commission
  • National Research Foundation
  • University of Pretoria
  • Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
  • Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology
  • Universiteit Leiden
  • National Natural Science Foundation of China
  • Universiteit van Amsterdam
  • Radboud Universiteit
  • Academia Sinica
  • Academy of Finland
  • Chinese Academy of Sciences
  • China Postdoctoral Science Foundation
  • Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología
  • Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek
  • Generalitat Valenciana
  • Universitat de València
  • Nuclear Safety and Security Commission
  • Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute
  • National Research Foundation of Korea
  • Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
  • Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
  • Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación
  • Shanghai Jiao Tong University
  • Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
  • National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
  • Recruitment Program of Global Experts
  • Junta de Andalucía
  • Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare
  • Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía
  • Agencia Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo
  • Institut Périmètre de physique théorique
  • East Asian Core Observatories Association
  • Toray Science Foundation
  • Office of Science
  • National Nuclear Security Administration
  • Physics Division, National Center for Theoretical Sciences
  • Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
  • Science and Technology Facilities Council
  • Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
  • Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas
  • Dirección General de Asuntos del Personal Académico, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
  • National Institutes of Natural Sciences
  • National Key Research and Development Program of China
  • Office of International Science and Engineering
  • Army Research Office
  • Oak Ridge National Laboratory
  • Los Alamos National Laboratory
Citations
1,660
FWCI
244.74
field-weighted impact
References
119
Percentile
100%
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Citations per year
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The Astrophysical Journal Letters · 2019 · 1,439 citations
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The Astrophysical Journal Letters · 2019 · 1,394 citations
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