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Observing the Inner Shadow of a Black Hole: A Direct View of the Event Horizon

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arxiv 2106.00683 v1 pith:NRCRH5XO submitted 2021-06-01 astro-ph.HE gr-qc

classification astro-ph.HEgr-qc
keywords photonblackholeringimagesshadowdirectemission
verification ladder T0 review T1 audit T2 compute T3 formal
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Simulated images of a black hole surrounded by optically thin emission typically display two main features: a central brightness depression and a narrow, bright "photon ring" consisting of strongly lensed images superposed on top of the direct emission. The photon ring closely tracks a theoretical curve on the image plane corresponding to light rays that asymptote to unstably bound photon orbits around the black hole. This critical curve has a size and shape that are purely governed by the Kerr geometry; in contrast, the size, shape, and depth of the observed brightness depression all depend on the details of the emission region. For instance, images of spherical accretion models display a distinctive dark region -- the "black hole shadow" -- that completely fills the photon ring. By contrast, in models of equatorial disks extending to the black hole's event horizon, the darkest region in the image is restricted to a much smaller area -- an inner shadow -- whose edge lies near the direct lensed image of the equatorial horizon. Using both semi-analytic models and general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic (GRMHD) simulations, we demonstrate that the photon ring and inner shadow may be simultaneously visible in submillimeter images of M87*, where magnetically arrested disk (MAD) simulations predict that the emission arises in a thin region near the equatorial plane. We show that the relative size, shape, and centroid of the photon ring and inner shadow can be used to estimate the black hole mass and spin, breaking degeneracies in measurements of these quantities that rely on the photon ring alone. Both features may be accessible to direct observation via high-dynamic-range images with a next-generation Event Horizon Telescope.

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Cited by 6 Pith papers

Reviewed papers in the Pith corpus that reference this work. Sorted by Pith novelty score. Full citation record

  1. Perturbations of Plane Waves and Quadratic Quasinormal Modes on the Lightring

    gr-qc 2025-09 conditional novelty 7.0 of 10

    Second-order gravitational perturbations on plane waves are solved with a GHP master equation and tensor harmonics, yielding quadratic quasinormal mode ratios and selection rules.

  2. Signatures of Lorentz violation in bright ring for Sgr A* images by radiation ineffective accretion flows

    astro-ph.HE 2026-08 conditional novelty 6.0 of 10

    For a rotating Lorentz-violating black hole, increasing the LV parameter shrinks and broadens Sgr A*'s image ring, and EHT data bound the parameter over a spin-dependent range.

  3. Novel extended inner shadow in images of Johannsen-Psaltis black holes with thin accretion disks

    gr-qc 2026-07 conditional novelty 6.0 of 10

    JP black holes with non-closed horizons produce an 'extended inner shadow' distinct from the ordinary inner shadow, and all image scales (inner shadow, photon ring, peak positions) grow monotonically with |ϵ3|.

  4. Optical Images of the Braneworld Black Hole Surrounded by an Optically Thin Accretion Disk

    astro-ph.HE 2026-07 conditional novelty 5.0 of 10

    A rotating braneworld black hole with tidal charge casts an asymmetric, spin- and q-dependent shadow; with the adopted disk emissivity, its 86 GHz image is brighter than its 230 GHz image.

  5. Probing Lorentz-violating effects via precession and accretion disk images of a rotating bumblebee black hole

    gr-qc 2026-04 conditional novelty 5.0 of 10

    Lorentz violation in a rotating bumblebee black hole suppresses Lense-Thirring precession, increases periastron precession, shrinks the inner shadow, and enhances the lensed ring while leaving the critical curve nearl...

  6. Plasma-Induced Modifications of the Shadows of Rotating Bardeen Black Holes with Perfect Fluid Dark Matter

    gr-qc 2026-07 conditional novelty 4.0 of 10

    The shadow of a rotating Bardeen black hole in perfect-fluid dark matter shrinks and deforms with plasma density, and EHT data can constrain the plasma and dark-matter parameters.

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