Observations of Sagittarius A* during the pericenter passage of the G2 object with MAGIC
Abstract
Context. We present the results of a multi-year monitoring campaign of the Galactic Center (GC) with the MAGIC telescopes. These observations were primarily motivated by reports that a putative gas cloud (G2) would be passing in close proximity to the super-massive black hole (SMBH), associated with Sagittarius A*, located at the center of our galaxy. This event was expected to give astronomers a unique chance to study the effect of in-falling matter on the broad-band emission of a SMBH. Aims. We search for potential flaring emission of very-high-energy (VHE; 100 GeV) gamma rays from the direction of the SMBH at the GC due to the passage of the G2 object. Using these data we also study the morphology of this complex region. Methods. We observed the GC region with the MAGIC Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes during the period 2012-2015, collecting 67 hours of good-quality data. In addition to a search for variability in the flux and spectral shape of the GC gamma-ray source, we use a point-source subtraction technique to remove the known gamma-ray emitters located around the GC in order to reveal the TeV morphology of the extended emission inside that region. Results. No effect of the G2 object on the VHE gamma-ray emission from the GC was detected during the 4 year observation campaign. We confirm previous measurements of the VHE spectrum of Sagittarius A*, and do not detect any significant variability of the emission from the source. Furthermore, the known VHE gamma-ray emitter at the location of the supernova remnant G0.9+0.1 was detected, as well as the recently discovered VHE source close to the GG radio Arc.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.1611.07095,
title = {Observations of Sagittarius A* during the pericenter passage of the G2 object with MAGIC},
author = {M. L. Ahnen and S. Ansoldi and L. A. Antonelli and P. Antoranz and C. Arcaro and A. Babic and B. Banerjee and P. Bangale and U. Barres de Almeida and J. A. Barrio and J. Becerra González and W. Bednarek and E. Bernardini and A. Berti and B. Biasuzzi and A. Biland and O. Blanch and S. Bonnefoy and G. Bonnoli and F. Borracci and T. Bretz and S. Buson and A. Carosi and A. Chatterjee and R. Clavero and P. Colin and E. Colombo and J. L. Contreras and J. Cortina and S. Covino and P. Da Vela and F. Dazzi and A. De Angelis and B. De Lotto and E. de Oña Wilhelmi and F. Di Pierro and M. Doert and A. Domínguez and D. Dominis Prester and D. Dorner and M. Doro and S. Einecke and D. Eisenacher Glawion and D. Elsaesser and M. Engelkemeier and V. Fallah Ramazani and A. Fernández-Barral and D. Fidalgo and M. V. Fonseca and L. Font and K. Frantzen and C. Fruck and D. Galindo and R. J. García López and M. Garczarczyk and D. Garrido Terrats and M. Gaug and P. Giammaria and N. Godinović and A. González Muñoz and D. Gora and D. Guberman and D. Hadasch and A. Hahn and M. Hayashida and J. Herrera and J. Hose and D. Hrupec and G. Hughes and W. Idec and K. Kodani and Y. Konno and H. Kubo and J. Kushida and A. La Barbera and D. Lelas and E. Lindfors and S. Lombardi and F. Longo and M. López and R. López-Coto and P. Majumdar and M. Makariev and K. Mallot and G. Maneva and M. Manganaro and K. Mannheim and L. Maraschi and B. Marcote and M. Mariotti and M. Martínez and D. Mazin and U. Menzel and J. M. Miranda and R. Mirzoyan and A. Moralejo and E. Moretti and D. Nakajima and V. Neustroev and A. Niedzwiecki and M. Nievas Rosillo and K. Nilsson and K. Nishijima and K. Noda and L. Nogués and A. Overkemping and S. Paiano and J. Palacio and M. Palatiello and D. Paneque and R. Paoletti and J. M. Paredes and X. Paredes-Fortuny and G. Pedaletti and M. Peresano and L. Perri and M. Persic and J. Poutanen and P. G. Prada Moroni and E. Prandini and I. Puljak and J. R. Garcia and I. Reichardt and W. Rhode and M. Ribó and J. Rico and T. Saito and K. Satalecka and S. Schroeder and T. Schweizer and S. N. Shore and A. Sillanpää and J. Sitarek and I. Snidaric and D. Sobczynska and A. Stamerra and T. Steinbring and M. Strzys and T. Surić and L. Takalo and F. Tavecchio and P. Temnikov and T. Terzić and D. Tescaro and M. Teshima and J. Thaele and D. F. Torres and T. Toyama and A. Treves and G. Vanzo and V. Verguilov and I. Vovk and J. E. Ward and M. Will and M. H. Wu and R. Zanin},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1611.07095},
year = {2020}
}
Comments
11 pages, 8 figures, accepted to A&A. Corresponding authors: Christian Fruck ([email protected]), Ievgen Vovk ([email protected]) and John Ennis Ward ([email protected])