First Sagittarius A* Event Horizon Telescope Results. I. The Shadow of the Supermassive Black Hole in the Center of the Milky Way
Authors: 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 , Baloković Mislav , 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 , 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 , Davelaar Jordy , Laurentis Mariafelicia De , Deane Roger , Dempsey Jessica , Desvignes Gregory , Dexter Jason , Dhruv Vedant , Doeleman Sheperd S. , Dougal Sean , Dzib Sergio A. , Eatough Ralph P. , Emami Razieh , Falcke Heino , Farah Joseph , Fish Vincent L. , Fomalont Ed , Ford H. Alyson , 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 Michael , Krichbaum Thomas P. , Kuo Cheng-Yu , Bella Noemi La , 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. , Lu 路 Ru-Sen 如森 , 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 , Müller Cornelia , Mus Alejandro , Musoke Gibwa , Myserlis Ioannis , Nadolski Andrew , Nagai Hiroshi , Nagar Neil M. , Nakamura Masanori , Narayan Ramesh , Narayanan Gopal , Natarajan Iniyan , Nathanail Antonios , Fuentes Santiago Navarro , Neilsen Joey , Neri Roberto , Ni Chunchong , Noutsos Aristeidis , Nowak Michael A. , Oh Junghwan , Okino Hiroki , Olivares Héctor , 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 , Ros Eduardo , Romero-Cañizales Cristina , 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 , Souccar Kamal , Sun 孙 He 赫 , Tazaki Fumie , Tetarenko Alexandra J. , Tiede Paul , Tilanus Remo P. J. , Titus Michael , Torne Pablo , 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 , Weintroub Jonathan , Wex Norbert , Wharton Robert , Wielgus Maciek , Wiik Kaj , Witzel Gunther , Wondrak Michael F. , Wong George N. , Wu 吴 Qingwen 庆文 , Yamaguchi Paul , Yoon Doosoo , Young André , Young Ken , Younsi Ziri , Yuan 袁 Feng 峰 , Yuan 袁 Ye-Fei 业飞 , Zensus J. Anton , Zhang Shuo , Zhao Guang-Yao , Zhao 赵 Shan-Shan 杉杉 , Agurto Claudio , Allardi Alexander , Amestica Rodrigo , Araneda Juan Pablo , Arriagada Oriel , Berghuis Jennie L. , Bertarini Alessandra , Berthold Ryan , Blanchard Jay , Brown Ken , Cárdenas Mauricio , Cantzler Michael , Caro Patricio , Castillo-Domínguez Edgar , Chan Tin Lok , Chang Chih-Cheng , Chang Dominic O. , Chang Shu-Hao , Chang Song-Chu , Chen Chung-Chen , Chilson Ryan , Chuter Tim C. , Ciechanowicz Miroslaw , Colin-Beltran Edgar , Coulson Iain M. , Crowley Joseph , Degenaar Nathalie , Dornbusch Sven , Durán Carlos A. , Everett Wendeline B. , Faber Aaron , Forster Karl , Fuchs Miriam M. , Gale David M. , Geertsema Gertie , González Edouard , Graham Dave , Gueth Frédéric , Halverson Nils W. , Han Chih-Chiang , Han Kuo-Chang , Hasegawa Yutaka , Hernández-Rebollar José Luis , Herrera Cristian , Herrero-Illana Ruben , Heyminck Stefan , Hirota Akihiko , Hoge James , Hostler Schimpf Shelbi R. , Howie Ryan E. , Huang Yau-De , Jiang Homin , Jinchi Hao , John David , Kimura Kimihiro , Klein Thomas , Kubo Derek , Kuroda John , Kwon Caleb , Lacasse Richard , Laing Robert , Leitch Erik M. , Li Chao-Te , Liu Ching-Tang , Liu Kuan-Yu , Lin Lupin C.-C. , Lu Li-Ming , Mac-Auliffe Felipe , Martin-Cocher Pierre , Matulonis Callie , Maute John K. , Messias Hugo , Meyer-Zhao Zheng , Montaña Alfredo , Montenegro-Montes Francisco , Montgomerie William , Moreno Nolasco Marcos Emir , Muders Dirk , Nishioka Hiroaki , Norton Timothy J. , Nystrom George , Ogawa Hideo , Olivares Rodrigo , Oshiro Peter , Pérez-Beaupuits Juan Pablo , Parra Rodrigo , Phillips Neil M. , Poirier Michael , Pradel Nicolas , Qiu Richard , Raffin Philippe A. , Rahlin Alexandra S. , Ramírez Jorge , Ressler Sean , Reynolds Mark , Rodríguez-Montoya Iván , Saez-Madain Alejandro F. , Santana Jorge , Shaw Paul , Shirkey Leslie E. , Silva Kevin M. , Snow William , Sousa Don , Sridharan T. K. , Stahm William , Stark Anthony A. , Test John , Torstensson Karl , Venegas Paulina , Walther Craig , Wei Ta-Shun , White Chris , Wieching Gundolf , Wijnands Rudy , Wouterloot Jan G. A. , Yu Chen-Yu , Yu (于威) Wei , Zeballos Milagros 
Published: May 2022

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 μas (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 × 106
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 103–105 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.