scholarly journals The distribution of stars around the Milky Way’s central black hole

2017 ◽  
Vol 609 ◽  
pp. A28 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Baumgardt ◽  
P. Amaro-Seoane ◽  
R. Schödel
Keyword(s):  
Black Hole ◽  
Adaptive Optics ◽  
Near Infrared ◽  
Stellar Dynamics ◽  
Galactic Centre ◽  
Test Case ◽  
Central Black Hole ◽  
Massive Black Hole ◽  
Giant Stars ◽  
Sgr A

Context. The distribution of stars around a massive black hole (MBH) has been addressed in stellar dynamics for the last four decades by a number of authors. Because of its proximity, the centre of the Milky Way is the only observational test case where the stellar distribution can be accurately tested. Past observational work indicated that the brightest giants in the Galactic centre (GC) may show a density deficit around the central black hole, not a cusp-like distribution, while we theoretically expect the presence of a stellar cusp. Aims. We here present a solution to this long-standing problem. Methods. We performed direct-summation N-body simulations of star clusters around massive black holes and compared the results of our simulations with new observational data of the GC’s nuclear cluster. Results. We find that after a Hubble time, the distribution of bright stars as well as the diffuse light follow power-law distributions in projection with slopes of Γ ≈ 0.3 in our simulations. This is in excellent agreement with what is seen in star counts and in the distribution of the diffuse stellar light extracted from adaptive-optics (AO) assisted near-infrared observations of the GC. Conclusions. Our simulations also confirm that there exists a missing giant star population within a projected radius of a few arcsec around Sgr A*. Such a depletion of giant stars in the innermost 0.1 pc could be explained by a previously present gaseous disc and collisions, which means that a stellar cusp would also be present at the innermost radii, but in the form of degenerate compact cores.

scholarly journals Detection of the Schwarzschild precession in the orbit of the star S2 near the Galactic centre massive black hole

2020 ◽  
Vol 636 ◽  
pp. L5 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
R. Abuter ◽  
A. Amorim ◽  
M. Bauböck ◽  
J. P. Berger ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Black Hole ◽  
Reference Frame ◽  
Adaptive Optics ◽  
Galactic Centre ◽  
Massive Black Hole ◽  
Central Mass ◽  
Black Hole Candidate ◽  
Beam Combiner ◽  
Direct Measurements ◽  
Sgr A

The star S2 orbiting the compact radio source Sgr A* is a precision probe of the gravitational field around the closest massive black hole (candidate). Over the last 2.7 decades we have monitored the star’s radial velocity and motion on the sky, mainly with the SINFONI and NACO adaptive optics (AO) instruments on the ESO VLT, and since 2017, with the four-telescope interferometric beam combiner instrument GRAVITY. In this Letter we report the first detection of the General Relativity (GR) Schwarzschild Precession (SP) in S2’s orbit. Owing to its highly elliptical orbit (e = 0.88), S2’s SP is mainly a kink between the pre-and post-pericentre directions of motion ≈±1 year around pericentre passage, relative to the corresponding Kepler orbit. The superb 2017−2019 astrometry of GRAVITY defines the pericentre passage and outgoing direction. The incoming direction is anchored by 118 NACO-AO measurements of S2’s position in the infrared reference frame, with an additional 75 direct measurements of the S2-Sgr A* separation during bright states (“flares”) of Sgr A*. Our 14-parameter model fits for the distance, central mass, the position and motion of the reference frame of the AO astrometry relative to the mass, the six parameters of the orbit, as well as a dimensionless parameter fSP for the SP (fSP = 0 for Newton and 1 for GR). From data up to the end of 2019 we robustly detect the SP of S2, δϕ ≈ 12′ per orbital period. From posterior fitting and MCMC Bayesian analysis with different weighting schemes and bootstrapping we find fSP = 1.10 ± 0.19. The S2 data are fully consistent with GR. Any extended mass inside S2’s orbit cannot exceed ≈0.1% of the central mass. Any compact third mass inside the central arcsecond must be less than about 1000 M⊙.

scholarly journals Detection of the gravitational redshift in the orbit of the star S2 near the Galactic centre massive black hole

2018 ◽  
Vol 615 ◽  
pp. L15 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
R. Abuter ◽  
A. Amorim ◽  
N. Anugu ◽  
M. Bauböck ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Black Hole ◽  
Adaptive Optics ◽  
Gravitational Redshift ◽  
Galactic Centre ◽  
Order Effects ◽  
Massive Black Hole ◽  
Black Hole Candidate ◽  
Very Large Telescope ◽  
General Relativistic ◽  
Sgr A

The highly elliptical, 16-year-period orbit of the star S2 around the massive black hole candidate Sgr A✻ is a sensitive probe of the gravitational field in the Galactic centre. Near pericentre at 120 AU ≈ 1400 Schwarzschild radii, the star has an orbital speed of ≈7650 km s−1, such that the first-order effects of Special and General Relativity have now become detectable with current capabilities. Over the past 26 years, we have monitored the radial velocity and motion on the sky of S2, mainly with the SINFONI and NACO adaptive optics instruments on the ESO Very Large Telescope, and since 2016 and leading up to the pericentre approach in May 2018, with the four-telescope interferometric beam-combiner instrument GRAVITY. From data up to and including pericentre, we robustly detect the combined gravitational redshift and relativistic transverse Doppler effect for S2 of z = Δλ / λ ≈ 200 km s−1/c with different statistical analysis methods. When parameterising the post-Newtonian contribution from these effects by a factor f , with f = 0 and f = 1 corresponding to the Newtonian and general relativistic limits, respectively, we find from posterior fitting with different weighting schemes f = 0.90 ± 0.09|stat ± 0.15|sys. The S2 data are inconsistent with pure Newtonian dynamics.

scholarly journals Accretion of stellar winds onto Sgr A*

2006 ◽  
Vol 2 (S238) ◽  
pp. 191-194
Author(s):  
Jorge Cuadra ◽  
Sergei Nayakshin
Keyword(s):  
Black Hole ◽  
Numerical Study ◽  
Stellar Dynamics ◽  
Galactic Centre ◽  
Stellar Winds ◽  
Massive Black Hole ◽  
X Ray ◽  
3 Dimensional ◽  
Sgr A ◽  
Slow Wind

AbstractWe report a 3-dimensional numerical study of the accretion of stellar winds onto Sgr A*, the super-massive black hole at the centre of our Galaxy. Compared with previous investigations, we allow the stars to be on realistic orbits, include the recently discovered slow wind sources, and allow for optically thin radiative cooling. We first show the strong influence of the stellar dynamics on the accretion onto the central black hole. We then present more realistic simulations of Sgr A* accretion and find that the slow winds shock and rapidly cool, forming cold gas clumps and filaments that coexist with the hot X-ray emitting gas. The accretion rate in this case is highly variable on time-scales of tens to hundreds of years. Such variability can in principle lead to a strongly non-linear response through accretion flow physics not resolved here, making Sgr A* an important energy source for the Galactic centre.

scholarly journals Interaction of stars hosting planets with Sgr A* black hole

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (S351) ◽  
pp. 76-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nazanin Davari ◽  
Roberto Capuzzo-Dolcetta ◽  
Rainer Spurzem
Keyword(s):  
Black Hole ◽  
Planetary Systems ◽  
Galactic Centre ◽  
Central Black Hole ◽  
Preliminary Results ◽  
Close Interaction ◽  
Sgr A ◽  
Ongoing Project

AbstractWe present some preliminary results of our ongoing project about planetary systems around S-stars in the vicinity of Sgr A* black hole. Since S-stars might have migrated in the Galactic Centre (GC) from elsewhere, they probably still keep their planetary systems throughout their voyage. In this work, we study the destiny of their putative planetary systems after close interaction with the central black hole of our galaxy.

scholarly journals The secular evolution of discrete quasi-Keplerian systems

2018 ◽  
Vol 609 ◽  
pp. A38 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.-B. Fouvry ◽  
C. Pichon ◽  
P.-H. Chavanis
Keyword(s):  
Black Hole ◽  
Landau Equation ◽  
Collective Effects ◽  
Galactic Centre ◽  
Central Black Hole ◽  
Massive Black Hole ◽  
Secular Evolution ◽  
Gauss Method ◽  
And Diffusion ◽  
Keplerian Systems

A discrete self-gravitating quasi-Keplerian razor-thin axisymmetric stellar disc orbiting a massive black hole sees its orbital structure diffuse on secular timescales as a result of a self-induced resonant relaxation. In the absence of collective effects, such a process is described by the recently derived inhomogeneous multi-mass degenerate Landau equation. Relying on Gauss’ method, we computed the associated drift and diffusion coefficients to characterise the properties of the resonant relaxation of razor-thin discs. For a disc-like configuration in our Galactic centre, we showed how this secular diffusion induces an adiabatic distortion of orbits and estimate the typical timescale of resonant relaxation. When considering a disc composed of multiple masses similarly distributed, we have illustrated how the population of lighter stars will gain eccentricity, driving it closer to the central black hole, provided the distribution function increases with angular momentum. The kinetic equation recovers as well the quenching of the resonant diffusion of a test star in the vicinity of the black hole (the “Schwarzschild barrier”) as a result of the divergence of the relativistic precessions. The dual stochastic Langevin formulation yields consistent results and offers a versatile framework in which to incorporate other stochastic processes.

scholarly journals Possible Evidence for a Binary Massive Black Hole in the Galactic Nucleus

1996 ◽  
Vol 169 ◽  
pp. 285-286
Author(s):  
E.J.A. Meurs
Keyword(s):  
Black Hole ◽  
Emission Line ◽  
Velocity Component ◽  
Orbital Motion ◽  
Galactic Centre ◽  
Line Profiles ◽  
Radial Velocity Component ◽  
Massive Black Hole ◽  
Ir Stars ◽  
Sgr A

The Galactic Centre candidate Sgr A∗ may exhibit a 40 km/s radial velocity component, which is not observed for OH/IR stars around the centre. This could be interpreted as orbital motion of one member of a binary massive black hole. In other galaxies such pairs may be inferred from radio jet precession and emission line profiles.

scholarly journals Blob formation and ejection from the radiative inefficient accretion flow around massive black hole

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tian-Le Zhao ◽  
Ye-Fei Yuan ◽  
Rajiv Kumar
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Black Hole ◽  
Current Sheet ◽  
Magnetic Energy ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Central Black Hole ◽  
Massive Black Hole ◽  
Accretion Flow ◽  
Black Hole Accretion ◽  
Sgr A

Abstract We study the small scale magnetic reconnection above the radiative inefficient accretion flow around massive black hole via 2D magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) numerical simulation, in order to model the blob formation and ejection from the accretion flow around Sgr A*. The connection of both the newly emerging magnetic field and the pre-existing magnetic field is investigated to check whether blobs could be driven in the environment of black hole accretion disk. After the magnetic connection, both the velocity and temperature of the plasma can be comparable to the inferred physical properties at the base of the observed blob ejection. For illustration, three small boxes which are located within 40 Schwarzschild radii from the central black hole are chosen as our simulation areas. At the beginning of the reconnections, the fluid is pulled toward the central black hole due to the gravitational attraction, and the current sheet produced by the reconnection is also pulled toward the same direction, consequently, the resulting outflows move both upward and toward the symmetry axis of the central black hole. Eventually, huge blobs appear, which supports the catastrophe model of episodic jets (Yuan et al. 2009a). It is also found that the closer to the black hole the magnetic connection happens, the higher the converting efficiency of the magnetic energy into the heat and kinetic energy. For these inner blobs, they have vortex structure due to the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability which happens along the current sheet separating the fluids with different speed.

scholarly journals Evidence for an accreting massive black hole in He 2–10 from adaptive optics integral field spectroscopy

2020 ◽  
Vol 494 (2) ◽  
pp. 2004-2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rogemar A Riffel
Keyword(s):  
Black Hole ◽  
Adaptive Optics ◽  
Near Infrared ◽  
Dwarf Galaxy ◽  
Line Emission ◽  
Massive Black Hole ◽  
Star Forming ◽  
Star Forming Regions ◽  
Integral Field Spectrograph ◽  
Integral Field

ABSTRACT Henize 2–10 is a blue dwarf galaxy with intense star formation and one the most intriguing question about it is whether or not it hosts an accreting massive black hole. We use H and K-band integral field spectra of the inner 130 pc × 130 pc of He 2–10 to investigate the emission and kinematics of the gas at unprecedented spatial resolution. The observations were done using the Gemini Near-Infrared Integral Field Spectrograph (NIFS) operating with the ALTAIR adaptive optics module and the resulting spatial resolutions are 6.5 and 8.6 pc in the K and H bands, respectively. Most of the line emission is due to excitation of the gas by photoionization and shocks produced by the star forming regions. In addition, our data provide evidence of emission of gas excited by an active galactic nucleus located at the position of the radio and X-ray sources, as revealed by the analysis of the emission-line ratios. The emission lines from the ionized gas in the field present two kinematic components: one narrow with a velocity field suggesting a disc rotation and a broad component due to winds from the star forming regions. The molecular gas shows only the narrow component. The stellar velocity dispersion map presents an enhancement of about 7 km s−1 at the position of the black hole, consistent with a mass of $1.5^{+1.3}_{-1.3}\times 10^6$ M⊙.

scholarly journals A geometric distance measurement to the Galactic center black hole with 0.3% uncertainty

2019 ◽  
Vol 625 ◽  
pp. L10 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
R. Abuter ◽  
A. Amorim ◽  
M. Bauböck ◽  
J. P. Berger ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Black Hole ◽  
Near Infrared ◽  
Galactic Center ◽  
Accurate Determination ◽  
Massive Black Hole ◽  
Geometric Distance ◽  
Significance Level ◽  
Beam Combiner ◽  
Infrared Interferometry ◽  
Sgr A

We present a 0.16% precise and 0.27% accurate determination of R0, the distance to the Galactic center. Our measurement uses the star S2 on its 16-year orbit around the massive black hole Sgr A* that we followed astrometrically and spectroscopically for 27 years. Since 2017, we added near-infrared interferometry with the VLTI beam combiner GRAVITY, yielding a direct measurement of the separation vector between S2 and Sgr A* with an accuracy as good as 20 μas in the best cases. S2 passed the pericenter of its highly eccentric orbit in May 2018, and we followed the passage with dense sampling throughout the year. Together with our spectroscopy, in the best cases with an error of 7 km s−1, this yields a geometric distance estimate of R0 = 8178 ± 13stat. ± 22sys. pc. This work updates our previous publication, in which we reported the first detection of the gravitational redshift in the S2 data. The redshift term is now detected with a significance level of 20σ with fredshift = 1.04 ± 0.05.

scholarly journals Observations of NIR polarized light from Sagittarius A*

2013 ◽  
Vol 9 (S303) ◽  
pp. 283-287
Author(s):  
B. Shahzamanian ◽  
A. Eckart ◽  
M. Zamaninasab ◽  
G. Witzel ◽  
N. Sabha
Keyword(s):  
Black Hole ◽  
Adaptive Optics ◽  
Near Infrared ◽  
Polarized Light ◽  
Time Interval ◽  
Physical Conditions ◽  
Supermassive Black Hole ◽  
Sagittarius A ◽  
Linearly Polarized ◽  
Sgr A

AbstractWe present a brief overview of results obtained from near-infrared polarized observations of Sgr A*, which is associated with the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way. The observations have been carried out using the NACO adaptive optics instrument at the VLT UT4 in the infrared Ks-band from 2004 to 2012. Several polarized flares have been observed in this time interval which allow us to determine the statistical properties of NIR linearly polarized light from Sgr A*. Linear polarization at 2.2 μm and its variations can help us to constrain the physical conditions of the accretion process around this supermassive black hole.

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