First Sagittarius A* Event Horizon Telescope Results. VII. Polarization of the Ring
Authors: The Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration  , Akiyama Kazunori , Alberdi Antxon , Alef Walter , Algaba Juan Carlos , Anantua Richard , Asada Keiichi , Azulay Rebecca , Bach Uwe , Baczko Anne-Kathrin , Ball David , Balokovic Mislav , Bandyopadhyay Bidisha , Barrett John , Bauböck Michi , Benson Bradford A. , Bintley Dan , Blackburn Lindy , Blundell Raymond , Bouman Katherine L. , Bower Geoffrey C. , Boyce Hope , Bremer Michael , Brinkerink Christiaan D. , Brissenden Roger , Britzen Silke , Broderick Avery E. , Broguiere Dominique , Bronzwaer Thomas , Bustamante Sandra , Byun Do-Young , Carlstrom John E. , Ceccobello Chiara , Chael Andrew , Chan Chi-kwan , Chang Dominic O. , Chatterjee Koushik , Chatterjee Shami , Chen Ming-Tang , Chen 陈 Yongjun 永军 , Cheng Xiaopeng , Cho Ilje , Christian Pierre , Conroy Nicholas S. , Conway John E. , Cordes James M. , Crawford Thomas M. , Crew Geoffrey B. , Cruz-Osorio Alejandro , Cui 崔 Yuzhu 玉竹 , Dahale Rohan , Davelaar Jordy , De Laurentis Mariafelicia , Deane Roger , Dempsey Jessica , Desvignes Gregory , Dexter Jason , Dhruv Vedant , Dihingia Indu K. , Doeleman Sheperd S. , Dougal Sean Taylor , Dzib Sergio A. , Eatough Ralph P. , Emami Razieh , Falcke Heino , Farah Joseph , Fish Vincent L. , Fomalont Edward , Ford H. Alyson , Foschi Marianna , Fraga-Encinas Raquel , Freeman William T. , Friberg Per , Fromm Christian M. , Fuentes Antonio , Galison Peter , Gammie Charles F. , García Roberto , Gentaz Olivier , Georgiev Boris , Goddi Ciriaco , Gold Roman , Gómez-Ruiz Arturo I. , Gómez José L. , Gu 顾 Minfeng 敏峰 , Gurwell Mark , Hada Kazuhiro , Haggard Daryl , Haworth Kari , Hecht Michael H. , Hesper Ronald , Heumann Dirk , Ho 何 Luis C. 子山 , Ho Paul , Honma Mareki , Huang Chih-Wei L. , Huang 黄 Lei 磊 , Hughes David H. , Ikeda Shiro , Impellizzeri C. M. Violette , Inoue Makoto , Issaoun Sara , James David J. , Jannuzi Buell T. , Janssen Michael , Jeter Britton , Jiang 江 Wu 悟 , Jiménez-Rosales Alejandra , Johnson Michael D. , Jorstad Svetlana , Joshi Abhishek V. , Jung Taehyun , Karami Mansour , Karuppusamy Ramesh , Kawashima Tomohisa , Keating Garrett K. , Kettenis Mark , Kim Dong-Jin , Kim Jae-Young , Kim Jongsoo , Kim Junhan , Kino Motoki , Koay Jun Yi , Kocherlakota Prashant , Kofuji Yutaro , Koch Patrick M. , Koyama Shoko , Kramer Carsten , Kramer Joana A. , Kramer Michael , Krichbaum Thomas P. , Kuo Cheng-Yu , La Bella Noemi , Lauer Tod R. , Lee Daeyoung , Lee Sang-Sung , Leung Po Kin , Levis Aviad , Li 李 Zhiyuan 志远 , Lico Rocco , Lindahl Greg , Lindqvist Michael , Lisakov Mikhail , Liu 刘 Jun 俊 , Liu Kuo , Liuzzo Elisabetta , Lo Wen-Ping , Lobanov Andrei P. , Loinard Laurent , Lonsdale Colin J. , Lowitz Amy E. , Lu 路 Ru-Sen 如森 , MacDonald Nicholas R. , Mao 毛 Jirong 基荣 , Marchili Nicola , Markoff Sera , Marrone Daniel P. , Marscher Alan P. , Martí-Vidal Iván , Matsushita Satoki , Matthews Lynn D. , Medeiros Lia , Menten Karl M. , Michalik Daniel , Mizuno Izumi , Mizuno Yosuke , Moran James M. , Moriyama Kotaro , Moscibrodzka Monika , Mulaudzi Wanga , Müller Cornelia , Müller Hendrik , Mus Alejandro , Musoke Gibwa , Myserlis Ioannis , Nadolski Andrew , Nagai Hiroshi , Nagar Neil M. , Nakamura Masanori , Narayanan Gopal , Natarajan Iniyan , Nathanail Antonios , Navarro Fuentes Santiago , Neilsen Joey , Neri Roberto , Ni Chunchong , Noutsos Aristeidis , Nowak Michael A. , Oh Junghwan , Okino Hiroki , Olivares Hèctor , Ortiz-León Gisela N. , Oyama Tomoaki , Özel Feryal , Palumbo Daniel C. M. , Paraschos Georgios Filippos , Park Jongho , Parsons Harriet , Patel Nimesh , Pen Ue-Li , Pesce Dominic W. , Piétu Vincent , Plambeck Richard , PopStefanija Aleksandar , Porth Oliver , Pötzl Felix M. , Prather Ben , Preciado-López Jorge A. , Psaltis Dimitrios , Pu Hung-Yi , Ramakrishnan Venkatessh , Rao Ramprasad , Rawlings Mark G. , Raymond Alexander W. , Rezzolla Luciano , Ricarte Angelo , Ripperda Bart , Roelofs Freek , Rogers Alan , Romero-Cañizales Cristina , Ros Eduardo , Roshanineshat Arash , Rottmann Helge , Roy Alan L. , Ruiz Ignacio , Ruszczyk Chet , Rygl Kazi L. J. , Sánchez Salvador , Sánchez-Argüelles David , Sánchez-Portal Miguel , Sasada Mahito , Satapathy Kaushik , Savolainen Tuomas , Schloerb F. Peter , Schonfeld Jonathan , Schuster Karl-Friedrich , Shao Lijing , Shen 沈 Zhiqiang 志强 , Small Des , Sohn Bong Won , SooHoo Jason , Sosapanta Salas León David , Souccar Kamal , Stanway Joshua S. , Sun 孙 He 赫 , Tazaki Fumie , Tetarenko Alexandra J. , Tiede Paul , Tilanus Remo P. J. , Titus Michael , Torne Pablo , Toscano Teresa , Traianou Efthalia , Trent Tyler , Trippe Sascha , Turk Matthew , van Bemmel Ilse , van Langevelde Huib Jan , van Rossum Daniel R. , Vos Jesse , Wagner Jan , Ward-Thompson Derek , Wardle John , Washington Jasmin E. , Weintroub Jonathan , Wharton Robert , Wielgus Maciek , Wiik Kaj , Witzel Gunther , Wondrak Michael F. , Wong George N. , Wu 吴 Qingwen 庆文 , Yadlapalli Nitika , Yamaguchi Paul , Yfantis Aristomenis , Yoon Doosoo , Young Andrè , Young Ken , Younsi Ziri , Yu 于 Wei 威 , Yuan 袁 Feng 峰 , Yuan 袁 Ye-Fei 业飞 , Zensus J. Anton , Zhang Shuo , Zhao Guang-Yao , Zhao 赵 Shan-Shan 杉杉 
Published: March 2024

The Event Horizon Telescope observed the horizon-scale synchrotron emission region around the Galactic center supermassive black hole, Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*), in 2017. These observations revealed a bright, thick ring morphology with a diameter of 51.8 ± 2.3 μas and modest azimuthal brightness asymmetry, consistent with the expected appearance of a black hole with mass M ≈ 4 × 106
M
⊙. From these observations, we present the first resolved linear and circular polarimetric images of Sgr A*. The linear polarization images demonstrate that the emission ring is highly polarized, exhibiting a prominent spiral electric vector polarization angle pattern with a peak fractional polarization of ∼40% in the western portion of the ring. The circular polarization images feature a modestly (∼5%–10%) polarized dipole structure along the emission ring, with negative circular polarization in the western region and positive circular polarization in the eastern region, although our methods exhibit stronger disagreement than for linear polarization. We analyze the data using multiple independent imaging and modeling methods, each of which is validated using a standardized suite of synthetic data sets. While the detailed spatial distribution of the linear polarization along the ring remains uncertain owing to the intrinsic variability of the source, the spiraling polarization structure is robust to methodological choices. The degree and orientation of the linear polarization provide stringent constraints for the black hole and its surrounding magnetic fields, which we discuss in an accompanying publication.