Hybrid mapping of the Black Hole Shadow in M87

TL;DR

This paper reanalyzes EHT observations of M87 using hybrid mapping, revealing a ring-like structure with a possible extension, and emphasizes the impact of initial models on image quality and interpretation.

Contribution

It demonstrates how different starting models influence the final image and provides evidence supporting a ring or edge-brightened disk structure of M87's black hole shadow.

Findings

The source appears as a ring or edge-brightened disk with ~44 microarcseconds size.

Starting with annulus and disk models yields images with lower noise and artifacts.

Visibility analysis supports a roughly circular, sharp-edged structure around 50 microarcseconds.

Abstract

We present a reanalysis of the EHT 228 GHz observations of M87. We apply traditional hybrid mapping techniques to the publicly available `network-calibrated' data. We explore the impact on the final image of different starting models, including: a point source, a disk, an annulus, a Gaussian, and an asymmetric double Gaussian. The images converge to an extended source with a size $\sim 44~\mu$as. Starting with the annulus and disk models leads to images with the lowest noise, smallest off-source artifacts, and better closure residuals. The source appears as a ring, or edge-brightened disk, with higher surface brightness in the southern half, consistent with previous results. Starting with the other models leads to a surface brightness distribution with a similar size, and an internal depression, but not as clearly ring-like. A consideration of visibility amplitudes vs. UV-distance argues for a roughly circularly symmetric structure of $\sim 50~\mu$as scale, with a sharp-edge, based on a prominent minimum in the UV-distribution, and the amplitude of the secondary peak in the UV-plot is more consistent with an annular model than a flat disk model. With further processing, we find a possible modest extension from the ring toward the southwest, in a direction consistent with the southern limb of the jet seen on 3mm VLBI images on a factor of few larger scales. However, this extension appears along the direction of one of the principle sidelobes of the synthesized beam, and hence requires testing with better UV-coverage.