The persistent shadow of the supermassive black hole of M87
Authors:   The Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration, Akiyama Kazunori , Albentosa-Ruíz Ezequiel , Alberdi Antxon , Alef Walter , Algaba Juan Carlos , Anantua Richard , Asada Keiichi , Azulay Rebecca , Bach Uwe , Baczko Anne-Kathrin , Ball David , Baloković Mislav , Bandyopadhyay Bidisha , Barrett John , Bauböck Michi , Benson Bradford A. , Bintley Dan , Blackburn Lindy , Blundell Raymond , Bouman Katherine L. , Bower Geoffrey C. , Bremer Michael , Brissenden Roger , Britzen Silke , Broderick Avery E. , Broguiere Dominique , Bronzwaer Thomas , Bustamante Sandra , Carlstrom John E. , Chael Andrew , Chan Chi-kwan , Chang Dominic O. , Chatterjee Koushik , Chatterjee Shami , Chen Ming-Tang , Chen Yongjun , Cheng Xiaopeng , Cho Ilje , Christian Pierre , Conroy Nicholas S. , Conway John E. , Crawford Thomas M. , Crew Geoffrey B. , Cruz-Osorio Alejandro , Cui Yuzhu , Curd Brandon , Dahale Rohan , Davelaar Jordy , De Laurentis Mariafelicia , Deane Roger , Dempsey Jessica , Desvignes Gregory , Dexter Jason , Dhruv Vedant , Dihingia Indu K. , Doeleman Sheperd S. , 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 Minfeng , Gurwell Mark , Hada Kazuhiro , Haggard Daryl , Hesper Ronald , Heumann Dirk , Ho Luis C. , Ho Paul , Honma Mareki , Huang Chih-Wei L. , Huang Lei , Hughes David H. , Ikeda Shiro , Impellizzeri C. M. Violette , Inoue Makoto , Issaoun Sara , James David J. , Jannuzi Buell T. , Janssen Michael , Jeter Britton , Jiang Wu , Jiménez-Rosales Alejandra , Johnson Michael D. , Jorstad Svetlana , Jones Adam C. , Joshi Abhishek V. , Jung Taehyun , 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 , Lee Sang-Sung , Levis Aviad , Li Zhiyuan , Lico Rocco , Lindahl Greg , Lindqvist Michael , Lisakov Mikhail , Liu Jun , Liu Kuo , Liuzzo Elisabetta , Lo Wen-Ping , Lobanov Andrei P. , Loinard Laurent , Lonsdale Colin J. , Lowitz Amy E. , Lu Ru-Sen , MacDonald Nicholas R. , Mao Jirong , Marchili Nicola , Markoff Sera , Marrone Daniel P. , Marscher Alan P. , Martí-Vidal Iván , Matsushita Satoki , Matthews Lynn D. , Medeiros Lia , Menten Karl M. , Mizuno Izumi , Mizuno Yosuke , Montgomery Joshua , Moran James M. , Moriyama Kotaro , Moscibrodzka Monika , Mulaudzi Wanga , Müller Cornelia , Müller Hendrik , Mus Alejandro , Musoke Gibwa , Myserlis Ioannis , Nagai Hiroshi , Nagar Neil M. , Nair Dhanya G. , Nakamura Masanori , Narayanan Gopal , Natarajan Iniyan , Nathanail Antonios , Fuentes Santiago Navarro , Neilsen Joey , Ni Chunchong , Nowak Michael A. , Oh Junghwan , Okino Hiroki , Olivares Sánchez Héctor Raúl , 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 , PopStefanija Aleksandar , Porth Oliver , Prather Ben , Principe Giacomo , Psaltis Dimitrios , Pu Hung-Yi , Ramakrishnan Venkatessh , Rao Ramprasad , Rawlings Mark G. , Rezzolla Luciano , Ricarte Angelo , Ripperda Bart , Roelofs Freek , 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 Zhiqiang , Small Des , Sohn Bong Won , SooHoo Jason , Salas León D. S. , Souccar Kamal , Stanway Joshua S. , Sun He , Tazaki Fumie , Tetarenko Alexandra J. , Tiede Paul , Tilanus Remo P. J. , Titus Michael , Toma Kenji , 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 Qingwen , Yadlapalli Nitika , Yamaguchi Paul , Yfantis Aristomenis , Yoon Doosoo , Young André , Younsi Ziri , Yu Wei , Yuan Feng , Yuan Ye-Fei , Zensus J. Anton , Zhang Shuo , Zhao Guang-Yao , Zhao Shan-Shan 
Published: January 2025

The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) observation of M87∗ in 2018 has revealed a ring with a diameter that is consistent with the 2017 observation. The brightest part of the ring is shifted to the southwest from the southeast. In this paper, we provide theoretical interpretations for the multi-epoch EHT observations for M87∗ by comparing a new general relativistic magnetohydrodynamics model image library with the EHT observations for M87∗ in both 2017 and 2018. The model images include aligned and tilted accretion with parameterized thermal and nonthermal synchrotron emission properties. The 2018 observation again shows that the spin vector of the M87∗ supermassive black hole is pointed away from Earth. A shift of the brightest part of the ring during the multi-epoch observations can naturally be explained by the turbulent nature of black hole accretion, which is supported by the fact that the more turbulent retrograde models can explain the multi-epoch observations better than the prograde models. The EHT data are inconsistent with the tilted models in our model image library. Assuming that the black hole spin axis and its large-scale jet direction are roughly aligned, we expect the brightest part of the ring to be most commonly observed 90 deg clockwise from the forward jet. This prediction can be statistically tested through future observations.