Hubble Space Telescope NICMOS Imaging of the Core of M87

We present broad-band 1.1, 1.6 and 2.2 micron images and a 2.37 micron narrow-band image of the inner 19" of the nearby radio galaxy M87, obtained with the Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). The isophotes of the broad-band images are almost perfectly circular to within approximately 0.5" (~ 50 pc) of the active nucleus, and an r**1/4 law provides a good fit to the galaxy profile to within the same distance. This result agrees with predictions that the nuclear supermassive black hole will produce a nearly spherical distribution of the surrounding stars within a galaxy crossing time. A difference image formed from the 1.6 micron image and a V-band image obtained with the HST Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 does not show any clear evidence of a physically thick dusty torus around the nucleus, consistent with its lack of strong thermal infrared emission. The images and associated colors also confirm that the regions beyond the nucleus do not contain strongly concentrated dust,in contrast to many other radio galaxies. In combination with other recent observations, these results indicate that M87 represents the dynamically evolved product of past galaxy mergers, and suggest that its nucleus is in the final stages of activity.