Radio imaging of the very-high-energy gamma-ray emission region in the central engine of a radio galaxy
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2009
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Amer Assoc Advancement Science
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Abstract
The accretion of matter onto a massive black hole is believed to feed the relativistic plasma jets found in many active galactic nuclei (AGN). Although some AGN accelerate particles to energies exceeding 10(12) electron volts and are bright sources of very-high-energy (VHE) gamma-ray emission, it is not yet known where the VHE emission originates. Here we report on radio and VHE observations of the radio galaxy Messier 87, revealing a period of extremely strong VHE gamma-ray flares accompanied by a strong increase of the radio flux from its nucleus. These results imply that charged particles are accelerated to very high energies in the immediate vicinity of the black hole.
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© Science. This work was also supported by ETH research grant TH 34/043, the Polish MniSzW grant N N203 390834, and the Young Investigators Program of the Helmholtz Gemeinschaft. VERITAS: This research is supported by grants from the U.S. Department of Energy, NSF, the Smithsonian Institution, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Science Foundation Ireland, and the STFC in the U.K. We acknowledge the excellent work of the technical support staff at the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory and the collaborating institutions in the construction and operation of the instrument. VLBA: The Very Long Baseline Array is operated by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, a facility of NSF, operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc.