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Over the past decades, there has been significant progress in our understanding of accreting supermassive black holes (SMBHs) that drive active galactic nuclei (AGNs), both from observational and theoretical perspectives. As an iconic target for this area of study, the nearby giant elliptical galaxy M 87 has received special attention thanks to its proximity, large mass of the central black hole and bright emission across the entire electromagnetic spectrum from radio to very-high-energy γ-rays. In particular, recent global millimeter-very-long-baseline-interferometer observations towards this nucleus have provided the first-ever opportunity to image the event-horizon-scale structure of an AGN, opening a new era of black hole astrophysics. On large scales, M 87 exhibits a spectacular jet propagating far beyond the host galaxy, maintaining its narrowly collimated shape over seven orders of magnitude in distance. Elucidating the generation and propagation, as well as the internal structure, of powerful relativistic jets remains a longstanding challenge in radio-loud AGNs. M 87 offers a privileged opportunity to examine such a jet with unprecedented detail. In this review, we provide a comprehensive overview of the observational knowledge accumulated about the M 87 black hole across various wavelengths. We cover both accretion and ejection processes at spatial scales ranging from outside the Bondi radius down to the event horizon. By compiling these observations and relevant theoretical studies, we aim to highlight our current understanding of accretion and jet physics for this specific object.

Relativistic jets from nearby low-luminosity active-galactic-nuclei (LLAGN) were observed by Very-Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) across many orders of magnitude in space, from milliparsec to sub-parsec scales, and from the jet base in the vicinity of black holes to the jet collimation and acceleration regions. With the improved resolution for VLBI observations, resolved VLBI jet morphologies provide valuable opportunities for testing and constraining black hole jet physics. In this review, we summarize and discuss the current progress of modeling nearby LLAGN jet images from horizon scales to large scales, including the construction of jet models and the assumed emission details. Illustrative examples for jet image modeling are also given to demonstrate how jet image features may vary with the underlying physics.

We present five-year monitoring results of 225 GHz zenith opacity using a tipping radiometer at Thule Air Base (Pituffik), Greenland, where the Greenland Telescope is currently located. The site shows a clear seasonal variation with average opacity lower by a factor of two during winter compared with summer, similar to Greenland Summit. The 25%, 50%, and 75% quartiles of the 225 GHz opacity during the winter months of November through April are 0.14, 0.17, and 0.22, respectively. These values are three times larger than those at the Greenland Summit, and the astronomical observing efficiency in this band is about an order of magnitude better at the Summit than at the Thule Air Base. 225 GHz opacity continuously less than 0.2 for 100–200 hr (i.e., for about a week) occurs about 20 times per year, and on several occasions it even reaches up to 300–400 hr (i.e., about two weeks). These statistics indicate that Thule is a very good site for millimeter astronomy that needs very stable opacity conditions, such as continuum camera observations or VLBI observations that span over several days. Estimated transmission spectra in the winter season show that most of the time (75% quartile) observations at frequencies below 300 GHz are possible with modest atmospheric attenuation (opacities < 0.5), and at frequencies below 350 GHz for a quarter of the time. Although the atmospheric transmission is low (only up to ∼20%), the 650 GHz and 850 GHz windows are also accessible for 5% of the wintertime. For about 50% of the summertime, it is possible to observe around the frequency of 220 GHz, which overlaps with the current EHT observation frequency of 221.1 GHz, with modest atmospheric attenuation (opacities < 0.5). On the other hand, the 350 GHz window is very difficult to observe in the summertime.

We present the 3.5 years monitoring results of 225 GHz opacity at the summit of the Greenland ice sheet (Greenland Summit Camp) at an altitude of 3200 m using a tipping radiometer. We chose this site as our submillimeter telescope (Greenland Telescope) site, because conditions are expected to have low submillimeter opacity and because its location offers favorable baselines to existing submillimeter telescopes for global-scale Very Long Baseline Interferometry. The site shows a clear seasonal variation with the average opacity lower by a factor of two during winter. The 25%, 50%, and 75% quartiles of the 225 GHz opacity during the winter months of November through April are 0.046, 0.060, and 0.080, respectively. For the winter quartiles of 25% and 50%, the Greenland site is about 10%-30% worse than the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) or the South Pole sites. Estimated atmospheric transmission spectra in winter season are similar to the ALMA site at lower frequencies ( < 450 GHz), which are transparent enough to perform astronomical observations almost all of the winter time with opacities < 0.5 , but 10%-25% higher opacities at higher frequencies ( > 450 GHz) than those at the ALMA site. This is due to the lower altitude of the Greenland site and the resulting higher line wing opacity from pressure-broadened saturated water lines in addition to higher dry air continuum absorption at higher frequencies. Nevertheless, half of the winter time at the Greenland Summit Camp can be used for astronomical observations at frequencies between 450 GHz and 1000 GHz with opacities < 1.2 , and 10% of the time show > 10 % transmittance in the THz (1035 GHz, 1350 GHz, and 1500 GHz) windows. Summer season is good for observations at frequencies lower than 380 GHz. One major advantage of the Greenland Summit Camp site in winter is that there is no diurnal variation due to the polar night condition, and therefore the durations of low-opacity conditions are significantly longer than at the ALMA site. Opacities lower than 0.05 or 0.04 can continue for more than 100 hr. Such long stable opacity conditions do not occur as often even at the South Pole; it happens only for the opacity lower than 0.05. Since the opacity variation is directly related to the sky temperature (background) variation, the Greenland Summit Camp is suitable for astronomical observations that need unusually stable sky background.

A key question in the formation of the relativistic jets in active galactic nuclei (AGNs) is the collimation process of their energetic plasma flow launched from the central supermassive black hole (SMBH). Recent observations of nearby low-luminosity radio galaxies exhibit a clear picture of parabolic collimation inside the Bondi accretion radius. On the other hand, little is known of the observational properties of jet collimation in more luminous quasars, where the accretion flow may be significantly different due to much higher accretion rates. In this paper, we present preliminary results of multi-frequency observations of the archetypal quasar 3C 273 with the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) at 1.4, 15, and 43 GHz, and Multi-Element Radio Linked Interferometer Network (MERLIN) at 1.6 GHz. The observations provide a detailed view of the transverse structure resolved on a broad range of spatial scales from sub-parsec to kilo parsecs, allowing us to profile the jet width as a function of the distance from the core for the first time in jets of bright quasars. We discovered a transition from a parabolic stream to a conical stream, which has been seen in much lower-luminosity radio galaxies. The similarity in the profile to the much lower-powered radio galaxy M87 suggests the universality of jet collimation among AGNs with different accretion rates.

In this conference contribution, we discuss and interpret the time variable rotation measure (RM) detected in the core region of the TeV blazar Markarian 421 (Mrk 421). We monitored Mrk 421 during 2011 with one observing run per month at 15, 24, and 43 GHz with the American Very Long Baseline Array. We explore the possible connection between the RM and the accretion rate, and we investigate the Faraday screen properties and its location with respect to the jet emitting region. Among the various scenarios, the jet sheath is the most promising candidate for being the main source of Faraday rotation. We interpret the RM sign reversals observed during the one-year monitoring within the context of the magnetic tower models by invoking the presence of two nested helical magnetic fields in the relativistic jet with opposite helicities, originating through the Poynting–Robertson cosmic battery effect. The net observed RM values result from the relative contribution of both inner and outer helical fields.

The nearby radio galaxy M87 offers a unique opportunity to explore the connections between the central supermassive black hole and relativistic jets. Previous studies of the inner region of M87 revealed a wide opening angle for the jet originating near the black hole 1 – 4 . The Event Horizon Telescope resolved the central radio source and found an asymmetric ring structure consistent with expectations from general relativity 5 . With a baseline of 17 years of observations, there was a shift in the jet’s transverse position, possibly arising from an 8- to 10-year quasi-periodicity 3 . However, the origin of this sideways shift remains unclear. Here we report an analysis of radio observations over 22 years that suggests a period of about 11 years for the variation in the position angle of the jet. We infer that we are seeing a spinning black hole that induces the Lense–Thirring precession of a misaligned accretion disk. Similar jet precession may commonly occur in other active galactic nuclei but has been challenging to detect owing to the small magnitude and long period of the variation. This study analyses radio observations of the jet in galaxy M87, from which the existence of a spinning black hole that induces Lense–Thirring precession of a misaligned accretion disk is inferred.

We report the jet width profile of of the nearby ( ∼ 30 Mpc ) AGN NGC 4261 for both the approaching jet and the counter jet at radial distances ranging from ∼ 10 3 – 10 9 Schwarzschild radius ( R S ) from the central engine. Our Very Large Array (VLA) and Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) observations reveal that the jets maintain a conical structure on both sides over the range 10 3 – 10 9 R S without any structural transition (i.e., parabolic to conical) like in the approaching jet in M87. Thus, NGC 4261 will provide a unique opportunity to examine the conical jet hypothesis in blazars, while it may require some additional consideration on the acceleration and collimation process in AGN jets.

Planned rapid submillimeter (submm) gamma-ray-bursts (GRBs) follow-up observations conducted using the Greenland Telescope (GLT) are presented. The GLT is a 12-m submm telescope to be located at the top of the Greenland ice sheet, where the high altitude and dry weather porvide excellent conditions for observations at submm wavelengths. With its combination of wavelength window and rapid responding system, the GLT will explore new insights on GRBs. Summarizing the current achievements of submm GRB follow-ups, we identify the following three scientific goals regarding GRBs: (1) systematic detection of bright submm emissions originating from reverse shock (RS) in the early afterglow phase, (2) characterization of forward shock and RS emissions by capturing their peak flux and frequencies and performing continuous monitoring, and (3) detections of GRBs at a high redshift as a result of the explosion of first generation stars through systematic rapid follow-ups. The light curves and spectra calculated by available theoretical models clearly show that the GLT could play a crucial role in these studies.

Near a black hole, differential rotation of a magnetized accretion disk is thought to produce an instability that amplifies weak magnetic fields, driving accretion and outflow. These magnetic fields would naturally give rise to the observed synchrotron emission in galaxy cores and to the formation of relativistic jets, but no observations to date have been able to resolve the expected horizon-scale magnetic-field structure. We report interferometric observations at 1.3-millimeter wavelength that spatially resolve the linearly polarized emission from the Galactic Center supermassive black hole, Sagittarius A*. We have found evidence for partially ordered magnetic fields near the event horizon, on scales of ~6 Schwarzschild radii, and we have detected and localized the intrahour variability associated with these fields.