• Featured in Physics

Self-Lensing Flares from Black Hole Binaries: Observing Black Hole Shadows via Light Curve Tomography

Jordy Davelaar and Zoltán Haiman
Phys. Rev. Lett. 128, 191101 – Published 9 May 2022
Physics logo See Viewpoint: Measuring a Black Hole Shadow

Abstract

Supermassive black hole (BH) binaries are thought to produce self-lensing flares (SLFs) when the two BHs are aligned with the line of sight. If the binary orbit is observed nearly edge-on, we find a distinct feature in the light curve imprinted by the relativistic shadow around the background (“source”) BH. We study this feature by ray tracing in a binary model and predict that 1% of the current binary candidates could show this feature. Our BH tomography method proposed here could make it possible to extract BH shadows that are spatially unresolvable by high-resolution very long base line interferometry (VLBI).

  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Received 27 December 2021
  • Accepted 15 March 2022

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.128.191101

© 2022 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Gravitation, Cosmology & Astrophysics

Viewpoint

Key Image

Measuring a Black Hole Shadow

Published 9 May 2022

A new technique for measuring the shadows cast by a black hole binary could enable astronomers to glean details about these massive systems.

See more in Physics

Authors & Affiliations

Jordy Davelaar1,2,3,* and Zoltán Haiman1

  • 1Department of Astronomy, Columbia University, 550 W 120th Street, New York, New York 10027, USA
  • 2Columbia Astrophysics Laboratory, Columbia University, 550 W 120th Street, New York, New York 10027, USA
  • 3Center for Computational Astrophysics, Flatiron Institute, 162 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10010, USA

  • *jrd2210@columbia.edu

See Also

Article Text (Subscription Required)

Click to Expand

References (Subscription Required)

Click to Expand
Issue

Vol. 128, Iss. 19 — 13 May 2022

Reuse & Permissions
Access Options
CHORUS

Article Available via CHORUS

Download Accepted Manuscript
Author publication services for translation and copyediting assistance advertisement

Authorization Required


×
×

Images

×

Sign up to receive regular email alerts from Physical Review Letters

Log In

Cancel
×

Search


Article Lookup

Paste a citation or DOI

Enter a citation
×