English

Monitoring the Dusty S-Cluster Object (DSO/G2) on its Orbit towards the Galactic Center Black Hole

Astrophysics of Galaxies 2015-06-23 v2

Abstract

We analyse and report in detail new near-infrared (1.45 - 2.45 microns) observations of the Dusty S-cluster Object (DSO/G2) during its approach to the black hole at the center of the Galaxy that were carried out with ESO VLT/SINFONI between February and September 2014. Before May 2014 we detect spatially compact Br-gamma and Pa-alpha line emission from the DSO at about 40mas east of SgrA*. The velocity of the source, measured from the red-shifted emission, is 2700+-60 km/s. No blue-shifted emission above the noise level is detected at the position of SgrA* or upstream the presumed orbit. After May we find spatially compact Br-gamma blue-shifted line emission from the DSO at about 30mas west of SgrA* at a velocity of -3320+-60 km/s and no indication for significant red-shifted emission. We do not detect any significant extension of velocity gradient across the source. We find a Br-gamma-line full width at half maximum of 50+-10 Angstroem before and 15+-10 Angstroem after the peribothron transit, i.e. no significant line broadening with respect to last year is observed. Br-gamma line maps show that the bulk of the line emission originates from a region of less than 20mas diameter. This is consistent with a very compact source on an elliptical orbit with a peribothron time passage in 2014.39+-0.14. For the moment, the flaring activity of the black hole in the near-infrared regime has not shown any statistically significant increment. Increased accretion activity of SgrA* may still be upcoming. We discuss details of a source model according to which the DSO is rather a young accreting star than a coreless gas and dust cloud.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1410.8731,
  title  = {Monitoring the Dusty S-Cluster Object (DSO/G2) on its Orbit towards the Galactic Center Black Hole},
  author = {M. Valencia-S. and A. Eckart and M. Zajacek and F. Peissker and M. Parsa and N. Grosso and E. Mossoux and D. Porquet and B. Jalali and V. Karas and S. Yazici and B. Shahzamanian and N. Sabha and R. Saalfeld and S. Smajic and R. Grellmann and L. Moser and M. Horrobin and A. Borkar and M. Garcia Marin and M. Dovciak and D. Kunneriath and G. D. Karssen and M. Bursa and C. Straubmeier and H. Bushouse},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1410.8731},
  year   = {2015}
}

Comments

32 pages - 3 tables - 17 figure - accepted by ApJ