scholarly journals Is Sgr A∗ Underfed, Underefficient, or Underdone?

1996 ◽  
Vol 169 ◽  
pp. 181-187 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonid M. Ozernoy ◽  
Reinhard Genzel
Keyword(s):  
Black Hole ◽  
Galactic Center ◽  
Lower Mass ◽  
Lower Efficiency ◽  
The Galaxy ◽  
Sgr A

We argue that the wind from IRS 16 and He I stars in the central 1 pc of the Galaxy is responsible for the peculiar features of accretion onto a putative black hole at the Galactic center. What makes Sgr A∗ unique is not that it is just underfed but, in addition, it has a much lower efficiency of accretion and possibly a lower mass, compared to the AGN case.

scholarly journals 10.2. High proper motions in the vicinity of Sgr A∗: unambiguous evidence for a massive central black hole

1998 ◽  
Vol 184 ◽  
pp. 433-434
Author(s):  
A. M. Ghez ◽  
B. L. Klein ◽  
C. McCabe ◽  
M. Morris ◽  
E. E. Becklin
Keyword(s):  
Black Hole ◽  
Milky Way ◽  
Galactic Center ◽  
Robust Method ◽  
Proper Motions ◽  
Central Black Hole ◽  
Milky Way Galaxy ◽  
The Galaxy ◽  
Sgr A

Although the notion that the Milky Way galaxy contains a supermassive central black hole has been around for more than two decades, it has been difficult to prove that one exists. The challenge is to assess the distribution of matter in the few central parsecs of the Galaxy. Assuming that gravity is the dominant force, the motion of the stars and gas in the vicinity of the putative black hole offers a robust method for accomplishing this task, by revealing the mass interior to the radius of the objects studied. Thus objects located closest to the Galactic Center provide the strongest constraints on the black hole hypothesis.

scholarly journals Masers and Galactic structure: Micro-arcsecond astrometry with the VLBA

2007 ◽  
Vol 3 (S242) ◽  
pp. 348-355 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. J. Reid ◽  
A. Brunthaler ◽  
K. M. Menten ◽  
Xu Ye ◽  
Zheng Xing-Wu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Black Hole ◽  
Galactic Center ◽  
Galactic Plane ◽  
Infrared Images ◽  
Star Forming ◽  
Supermassive Black Hole ◽  
Star Forming Regions ◽  
The Galaxy ◽  
Trigonometric Parallaxes ◽  
Sgr A

AbstractAstrometric observations with the VLBA with accuracies approaching ~ 10 μas are being conducted in order to better understand the Galaxy. The location of Sgr A* on infrared images can be determined with an accuracy of a few mas, using stars with SiO maser emission as a calibration grid for infrared images. The apparent proper motion of Sgr A*, which is dominated by the effects of the orbit of the Sun around the Galactic center, has been measured with high accuracy. This measurement strongly constrains Θ0R0 and offers a dynamical definition of the Galactic plane with Sgr A* at its origin. The intrinsic motion of Sgr A* is very small and comparable to that expected for a supermassive black hole. When combined with infrared results, this provides overwhelming evidence that Sgr A* is a supermassive black hole. Finally, we are engaged in a large project to map the spiral structure and kinematics of the Galaxy. Preliminary trigonometric parallaxes, obtained with the VLBA, to eight massive star forming regions are presented.

scholarly journals Weak and strong deflection gravitational lensing by a renormalization group improved Schwarzschild black hole

2019 ◽  
Vol 79 (12) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xu Lu ◽  
Yi Xie
Keyword(s):  
Black Hole ◽  
Renormalization Group ◽  
Gravitational Lensing ◽  
Galactic Center ◽  
Quantum Effect ◽  
Apparent Size ◽  
Great Care ◽  
Schwarzschild Black Hole ◽  
Sgr A ◽  
Near Future

AbstractWeak and strong deflection gravitational lensing by a renormalization group improved Schwarzschild black hole is investigated and its observables are found. By taking the supermassive black holes Sgr A* and M87* respectively in the Galactic Center and at the center of M87 as lenses, we estimate these observables and analyse possibility of detecting this quantum improvement. It is not feasible to distinguish such a black hole by most observables in the near future except for the apparent size of the shadow. We also note that directly using measured shadow of M87* to constrain this quantum effect requires great care.

scholarly journals The Nucleus of Our Home Galaxy: A Remnant of an Active or a Starburst Galaxy?

1994 ◽  
Vol 159 ◽  
pp. 351-354
Author(s):  
Leonid M. Ozernoy
Keyword(s):  
Black Hole ◽  
Galactic Center ◽  
Radiation Spectrum ◽  
Seyfert Galaxy ◽  
Star Formation History ◽  
Starburst Galaxy ◽  
Formation History ◽  
History Of ◽  
Sgr A ◽  
Radio Band

To resolve the above dilemma, two essentially different approaches are undertaken: First, a new, detailed analysis of the entire radiation spectrum of Sgr A∗, from radio band up to gamma-rays, is reviewed, which enables us to put substantial constraints on the mass of a putative black hole. The derived upper limit turns out to be too small to allow the black hole to serve as an ‘engine’ for a Seyfert galaxy. Second, analyses of recent data on the 10 KeV gas in the central 200 pc and on star formation history at the Galactic center both make a star burst the likely episode in a recent past. Taken together, the two approaches seem to indicate that the history of the central part of our Galaxy can be better described as that of a starburst, rather than a Seyfert, galaxy.

scholarly journals Radio Continuum Emission from the Nuclei of Normal Galaxies

1980 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 177-184 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. M. van der Hulst
Keyword(s):  
Radio Emission ◽  
Galactic Center ◽  
Galactic Nuclei ◽  
Radio Continuum ◽  
Continuum Emission ◽  
Thermal Source ◽  
Very Large Array ◽  
Normal Galaxies ◽  
The Galaxy ◽  
Sgr A

During the last few years detailed and sensitive observations of the radio emission from the nuclei of many normal spiral galaxies has become available. Observations from the Very Large Array (VLA) of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO1), in particular, enable us to distinguish details on a scale of ≤100 pc for galaxies at distances less than 21 Mpc. The best studied nucleus, however, still is the center of our own Galaxy (see Oort 1977 and references therein). Its radio structure is complex. It consists of an extended non-thermal component 200 × 70 pc in size, with embedded therein several giant HII regions and the central source Sgr A (˜9 pc in size). Sgr A itself consists of a thermal source, Sgr A West, located at the center of the Galaxy, and a weaker, non-thermal source, Sgr A East. Sgr A West moreover contains a weak, extremely compact (≤10 AU) source. The radio morphology of several other galactic nuclei is quite similar to that of the Galactic Center, as will be discussed in section 2. Recent reviews of the radio properties of the nuclei of normal galaxies have been given by Ekers (1978a,b) and De Bruyn (1978). The latter author, however, concentrates on galaxies with either active nuclei or an unusual radio morphology. In this paper I will describe recent results from the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope (WSRT, Hummel 1979), the NRAO 3-element interferometer (Carlson, 1977; Condon and Dressel 1978), and the VLA (Heckman et al., 1979; Van der Hulst et al., 1979). I will discuss the nuclear radio morphology in section 2, the luminosities in section 3, and the spectra in section 4. In section 5 I will briefly comment upon the possible implications for the physical processes in the nuclei that are responsible for the radio emission.

scholarly journals The Compact Nonthermal Radio Source at the Galactic Center: an Update

1989 ◽  
Vol 136 ◽  
pp. 527-534
Author(s):  
K. Y. Lo
Keyword(s):  
Radio Source ◽  
Galactic Center ◽  
Central Star ◽  
Radio Sources ◽  
Stellar Objects ◽  
Nonthermal Radio ◽  
Compact Radio Source ◽  
The Galaxy ◽  
Observational Status ◽  
Sgr A

We review the current observational status of Sgr A∗, the compact nonthermal radio source at the galactic center. Sgr A∗ is a unique radio source at a unique location of the Galaxy. It is unlike any compact radio source associated with known stellar objects, but it is similar to extragalactic nuclear compact radio sources. The positional offset between Sgr A∗ and IRS16 places little constraint on the nature of the underlying energy source, since IRS16 need not be the core of the central star cluster. Sgr A∗ is still the best candidate for marking the location of a massive collapsed object.

scholarly journals Herschel water maps towards the vicinity of the black hole Sgr A*

2019 ◽  
Vol 624 ◽  
pp. A112
Author(s):  
J. Armijos-Abendaño ◽  
J. Martín-Pintado ◽  
M. A. Requena-Torres ◽  
E. González-Alfonso ◽  
R. Güsten ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Black Hole ◽  
Ground State ◽  
Galactic Center ◽  
Cosmic Ray ◽  
Far Infrared ◽  
Thermodynamical Equilibrium ◽  
Molecular Features ◽  
Ring Model ◽  
Water Excitation ◽  
Sgr A

Aims. We study the spatial distribution and kinematics of water emission in a ~8 × 8 pc2 region of the Galactic center (GC) that covers the main molecular features around the supermassive black hole Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*). We also analyze the water excitation to derive the physical conditions and water abundances in the circumnuclear disk (CND) and the “quiescent clouds”. Methods. We presented the integrated line intensity maps of the ortho 110 − 101, and para 202 − 111 and 111 − 000 water transitions observed using the On the Fly mapping mode with the Heterodyne Instrument for the Far Infrared (HIFI) on board Herschel. To study the water excitation, we used HIFI observations of the ground state ortho and para H218O transitions toward three selected positions in the vicinity of Sgr A*. In our study, we also used dust continuum measurements of the CND, obtained with the Spectral and Photometric Imaging REceiver (SPIRE) instrument. Using a non-local thermodynamical equilibrium (LTE) radiative transfer code, the water line profiles and dust continuum were modeled, deriving H2O abundances (XH2O), turbulent velocities (V t), and dust temperatures (Td). We also used a rotating ring model to reproduce the CND kinematics represented by the position velocity (PV) diagram derived from para 202 − 111 H2O lines. Results. In our H2O maps we identify the emission associated with known features around Sgr A*: CND, the Western Streamer, and the 20 and 50 km s−1 clouds. The ground-state ortho water maps show absorption structures in the velocity range of [−220,10] km s−1 associated with foreground sources. The PV diagram reveals that the 202 − 111 H2O emission traces the CND also observed in other high-dipole molecules such as SiO, HCN, and CN. Using the non-LTE code, we derive high XH2O of ~(0.1–1.3) × 10−5, V t of 14–23 km s−1 , and Td of 15–45 K for the CND, and the lower XH2O of 4 × 10−8 and V t of 9 km s−1 for the 20 km s−1 cloud. Collisional excitation and dust effects are responsible for the water excitation in the southwest lobe of the CND and the 20 km s−1 cloud, whereas only collisions can account for the water excitation in the northeast lobe of the CND. We propose that the water vapor in the CND is produced by grain sputtering by shocks of 10–20 km s−1, with some contribution of high temperature and cosmic-ray chemistries plus a photon-dominated region chemistry, whereas the low XH2O derived for the 20 km s−1 cloud could be partially a consequence of the water freeze-out on grains.

scholarly journals The central cluster and X-ray emission from Sgr A*

2006 ◽  
Vol 2 (S238) ◽  
pp. 347-348
Author(s):  
Robert F. Coker ◽  
Julian M. Pittard
Keyword(s):  
Black Hole ◽  
Stellar Winds ◽  
Solar Mass ◽  
Hydrodynamic Simulations ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Central Cluster ◽  
The Galaxy ◽  
Early Type Stars ◽  
Sgr A ◽  
Hydrodynamic Data

AbstractAt the centre of the Milky Way is Sgr A*, a putative 3 million solar mass black hole with an observed luminosity that is orders of magnitude smaller than that expected from simple accretion theories. The number density of early-type stars is quite high near Sgr A*, so the ensemble of their stellar winds has a significant impact on the black hole's environment.We present results of 3D hydrodynamic simulations of the accretion of stellar winds onto Sgr A*. Using the LANL/SAIC code, RAGE, we model the central arc-second of the Galaxy, including the central cluster stars (the S-stars) with orbits and wind parameters that match observations. A significant fraction of the winds from the S stars becomes gravitationally bound to the black hole and thus could provide enough hot gas to produce the X-ray emission seen by Chandra. We perform radiative transfer calculations on the 3D hydrodynamic data cubes and present the resulting synthetic X-ray spectrum.

scholarly journals The distance to the Galactic Center

2012 ◽  
Vol 8 (S289) ◽  
pp. 29-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan Gillessen ◽  
Frank Eisenhauer ◽  
Tobias K. Fritz ◽  
Oliver Pfuhl ◽  
Thomas Ott ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Black Hole ◽  
Galactic Center ◽  
Distance Estimate ◽  
Massive Black Hole ◽  
Geometric Distance ◽  
Stellar Orbits ◽  
Fundamental Parameters ◽  
The Galaxy ◽  
Error Bars ◽  
Definition Of

AbstractOne of the Milky Way's fundamental parameters is the distance of the Sun from the Galactic Center, R0. This article reviews the various ways of estimating R0, placing special emphasis on methods that have become possible recently. In particular, we focus on the geometric distance estimate made possible thanks to observations of individual stellar orbits around the massive black hole at the center of the Galaxy. The specific issues of concern there are the degeneracies with other parameters, most importantly the mass of the black hole and the definition of the reference frame. The current uncertainty is nevertheless only a few percent, with error bars shrinking every year.

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