The early-type galaxy NGC 3115 , at a distance of 10.2 Mpc , hosts the nearest billion-solar-mass black hole .
Wong et al .
recently inferred a substantial Bondi accretion rate near the black hole .
Bondi-like accretion is thought to fuel outflows , which can be traced through their radio emission .
This paper reports the discovery of a radio nucleus in NGC 3115 , with a diameter less that 0.17″ ( 8.4 pc ) , a luminosity at 8.5 GHz of 3.1 \times 10 ^ { 35 } ergs s ^ { -1 } and a flat spectrum ( \alpha = -0.23 \pm 0.20 , S \propto \nu ^ { \alpha } ) .
The radio source coincides with the galaxy ’ s photocenter and candidate X-ray nucleus .
The emission is radio-loud , suggesting the presence of an outflow on scales less than 10 pc .
On such scales , the Bondi accretion could be impeded by heating due to disruption of the outflow .