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 Hot stars in the Galactic Center

1999 ◽  
Vol 193 ◽  
pp. 449-458
Author(s):  
Andreas Eckart ◽  
Thomas Ott ◽  
Reinhard Genzel ◽  
Dieter Lutz
Keyword(s):  
Black Hole ◽  
Near Infrared ◽  
Milky Way ◽  
Infrared Imaging ◽  
Galactic Center ◽  
Hot Stars ◽  
Massive Black Hole ◽  
Central Cluster ◽  
Short Period ◽  
Sgr A

The central parsec of our Galaxy is powered by a cluster of young massive hot stars which formed a few million years ago. Within that cluster the seven most luminous (L >105.75 L⊙) and moderately hot (T < 104.5 K) blue supergiants contribute half of the ionizing luminosity of that region. These stars probably formed when a dense cloud fell into the center < 107 years ago, was highly compressed there, and became gravitationally unstable. Over six years of high spatial resolution, near-infrared imaging and spectroscopy have made it possible to carry out a detailed investigation of the stars in the central cluster and its enclosed mass. As one result of a detailed variability study of the central cluster stars we found that the bright He I star IRS 16SW is a short-period variable with a period of ∼9.72 days. It is most likely an eclipsing binary with a lower mass limit of 100 solar masses. Line of sight velocities and proper motions have been measured for these hot stars (as well as ∼200 other stars) down to separations of less than five light days from the compact radio source Sgr A* at the dynamic center of the Milky Way. These confirmed measurements imply the presence of a central dark mass of 2.6 × 106 solar masses. The dark mass at the center of the Milky Way is currently the most compelling case for a massive black hole. Simple physical considerations show that this dark mass cannot consist of a stable cluster of stars, stellar remnants, substellar condensations or a degenerate gas of elementary particles but that at least 103 to 105 solar masses must be in the form of a massive black hole associated with Sgr A* itself.

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⊙.

Clarification of the formation process of the super massive black hole by Infrared astrometric satellite, Small-JASMINE

2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (S330) ◽  
pp. 360-361 ◽  
Author(s):  
Taihei Yano ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Black Holes ◽  
Black Hole ◽  
Phase Space ◽  
Formation Process ◽  
Near Infrared ◽  
Galactic Center ◽  
Space Distribution ◽  
Massive Black Hole ◽  
Phase Space Distribution ◽  
Merging Process

AbstractSmall-JASMINE (hearafter SJ), infrared astrometric satellite, will measure the positions and the proper motions which are located around the Galactic center, by operating at near infrared wave-lengths. SJ will clarify the formation process of the super massive black hole (hearafter SMBH) at the Galactic center. In particular, SJ will determine whether the SMBH was formed by a sequential merging of multiple black holes. The clarification of this formation process of the SMBH will contribute to a better understanding of merging process of satellite galaxies into the Galaxy, which is suggested by the standard galaxy formation scenario. A numerical simulation (Tanikawa and Umemura, 2014) suggests that if the SMBH was formed by the merging process, then the dynamical friction caused by the black holes have influenced the phase space distribution of stars. The phase space distribution measured by SJ will make it possible to determine the occurrences of the merging process.

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.

scholarly journals Observing a black hole event horizon: (sub)millimeter VLBI of Sgr A*

2009 ◽  
Vol 5 (S261) ◽  
pp. 271-276 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vincent L. Fish ◽  
Sheperd S. Doeleman
Keyword(s):  
Black Hole ◽  
Event Horizon ◽  
Strong Evidence ◽  
Galactic Center ◽  
Strong Field ◽  
Variable Component ◽  
Massive Black Hole ◽  
Black Hole Candidate ◽  
Long Baseline ◽  
Sgr A

AbstractVery strong evidence suggests that Sagittarius A*, a compact radio source at the center of the Milky Way, marks the position of a super massive black hole. The proximity of Sgr A* in combination with its mass makes its apparent event horizon the largest of any black hole candidate in the universe and presents us with a unique opportunity to observe strong-field GR effects. Recent millimeter very long baseline interferometric observations of Sgr A* have demonstrated the existence of structures on scales comparable to the Schwarzschild radius. These observations already provide strong evidence in support of the existence of an event horizon. (Sub)Millimeter VLBI observations in the near future will combine the angular resolution necessary to identify the overall morphology of quiescent emission, such as an accretion disk or outflow, with a fine enough time resolution to detect possible periodicity in the variable component of emission. In the next few years, it may be possible to identify the spin of the black hole in Sgr A*, either by detecting the periodic signature of hot spots at the innermost stable circular orbit or parameter estimation in models of the quiescent emission. Longer term, a (sub)millimeter VLBI “Event Horizon Telescope” will be able to produce images of the Galactic center emission to the see the silhouette predicted by general relativistic lensing. These techniques are also applicable to the black hole in M87, where black hole spin may be key to understanding the jet-launching region.

scholarly journals Observations of the gas cloud G2 in the Galactic center

2013 ◽  
Vol 9 (S303) ◽  
pp. 254-263
Author(s):  
S. Gillessen ◽  
R. Genzel ◽  
T. K. Fritz ◽  
F. Eisenhauer ◽  
O. Pfuhl ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Black Hole ◽  
Galactic Center ◽  
Accretion Rate ◽  
Tidal Effects ◽  
Massive Black Hole ◽  
Radial Orbit ◽  
Sgr A ◽  
The Many ◽  
Gas Cloud ◽  
Luminosity Evolution

AbstractIn 2011, we discovered a compact gas cloud (“G2”) with roughly three Earth masses that is falling on a near-radial orbit toward the massive black hole in the Galactic center. The orbit is well constrained and pericenter passage is predicted for early 2014. Our data beautifully show that G2 gets tidally sheared apart due to the massive black hole's force. During the next months, we expect that in addition to the tidal effects, hydrodynamics get important, when G2 collides with the hot ambient gas around Sgr A*. Simulations show that ultimately, the cloud's material might fall into the massive black hole. Predictions for the accretion rate and luminosity evolution, however, are very difficult due to the many unknowns. Nevertheless, this might be a unique opportunity in the next years to observe how gas feeds a massive black hole in a galactic nucleus.

scholarly journals 15 years of high precision astrometry in the Galactic Center

2007 ◽  
Vol 3 (S248) ◽  
pp. 466-469
Author(s):  
S. Gillessen ◽  
R. Genzel ◽  
F. Eisenhauer ◽  
T. Ott ◽  
S. Trippe ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Black Hole ◽  
Mass Distribution ◽  
Near Infrared ◽  
Galactic Center ◽  
Massive Black Hole ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Stellar Orbits ◽  
Supermassive Black Hole ◽  
Near Future ◽  
Precision Astrometry

AbstractIn 1992, we obtained the first observations of S2 a star close to the supermassive black hole at the Galactic Center. In 2002, S2 passed its periastron and in 2007, it completed a first fully observed revolution. This orbit allowed us to determine the mass of and the distance to the supermassive black hole with unprecedented accuracy. Here we present a re-analysis of the data set, enhancing the astrometric accuracy to 0.5 mas and increasing the number of well-determined stellar orbits to roughly 15. This allows to constrain the extended mass distribution around the massive black hole and will lead in the near future to the detection of post-Newtonian effects. We will also give an outlook on the potential of interferometric near-infrared astrometry with 10 microarcsecond accuracy from the VLTI.

scholarly journals Event horizon scale emission models for Sagittarius A*

2013 ◽  
Vol 9 (S303) ◽  
pp. 298-302
Author(s):  
J. Dexter
Keyword(s):  
Black Holes ◽  
Black Hole ◽  
Event Horizon ◽  
Near Infrared ◽  
Sagittarius A ◽  
Long Baseline ◽  
Black Hole Accretion ◽  
Emission Models ◽  
Infrared Interferometry ◽  
Sgr A

AbstractVery long baseline interferometry observations at millimeter wavelengths have detected source structure in Sgr A* on event horizon scales. Near-infrared interferometry will achieve similar resolution in the next few years. These experiments provide an unprecedented opportunity to explore strong gravity around black holes, but interpreting the data requires physical modeling. I discuss the calculation of images, spectra, and light curves from relativistic MHD simulations of black hole accretion. The models provide an excellent description of current observations, and predict that we may be on the verge of detecting a black hole shadow, which would constitute the first direct evidence for the existence of black holes.

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