Radio Imaging of the Very-High-Energy Gamma-Ray Emission Region in the Central Engine of a Radio Galaxy

Abstract

The accretion of matter onto a massive black hole is believed to feed the relativistic plasma jets found in many active galactic nuclei (AGN). Although some AGN accelerate particles to energies exceeding 10^12 electron Volts (eV) and are bright sources of very-high-energy (VHE) gamma-ray emission, it is not yet known where the VHE emission originates. Here we report on radio and VHE observations of the radio galaxy M87, revealing a period of extremely strong VHE gamma-ray flares accompanied by a strong increase of the radio flux from its nucleus. These results imply that charged particles are accelerated to very high energies in the immediate vicinity of the black hole.

21 pages, 5 figures, published in Science, see: http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/325/5939/444

References in corpus (10)

• Observations of the Crab Nebula with H.E.S.S
• Fast variability of TeV gamma-rays from the radio galaxy M 87
• VHE Gamma-Ray Observation of the Crab Nebula and its Pulsar with the MAGIC telescope
• The Black Hole Mass, Stellar M/L, and Dark Halo in M87
• Production of TeV gamma-radiation in the vicinity of the supermassive black hole in the giant radiogalaxy M87
• VERITAS Observations of the gamma-Ray Binary LS I +61 303
• Variability Timescales in the M87 Jet: Signatures of E-Squared Losses, Discovery of a Quasi-period in HST-1, and the Site of TeV Flaring
• Observation of gamma-ray emission from the galaxy M87 above 250 GeV with VERITAS
• A synchrotron self-Compton scenario for the very high energy gamma-ray emission of the radiogalaxy M87
• The Mid-Infrared Emission of M87

Cited by in corpus (140)

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• 230 GHz VLBI observations of M87: event-horizon-scale structure at the enhanced very-high-energy $\gamma$-ray state in 2012
• Broadband Multi-wavelength Properties of M87 during the 2017 Event Horizon Telescope Campaign
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• VERITAS Observations of day-scale flaring of M87 in 2010 April
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