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Related papers: The Galactic Center

200 papers

The compact dark objects with very large masses residing at the centres of galaxies are believed to be black holes. Due to the gravitational lensing effect, they would cast a shadow larger than their horizon size over the background, whose…

Astrophysics · Physics 2008-11-26 Lei Huang , Mike Cai , Zhi-Qiang Shen , Feng Yuan

Assuming that the compact source at the Galactic center, Sagittarius A*, is a massive boson star, we fit the near-infrared flare astrometry data. We consider 12 discrete boson star configurations and model the flare as a hotspot on a…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2026-05-12 Xiangyu Wang , Tian-chi Ma , Minyong Guo , Hai-Qing Zhang

We present the results of the first systematic search for spectroscopic binaries within the central 2 x 3 arcsec$^2$ around the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy. This survey is based primarily on over a decade…

We report the discovery of variability in the linear polarization from the Galactic Center black hole source, Sagittarius A*. New polarimetry obtained with the Berkeley-Illinois-Maryland Association array at a wavelength of 1.3 mm shows a…

Astrophysics · Physics 2009-11-10 Geoffrey C. Bower , Heino Falcke , Melvyn C. H. Wright , Donald C. Backer

The Galactic center (GC) is a dense and chaotic region filled with unusual sources, such as intense star forming regions, dense star clusters, nonthermal radio filaments, and a massive black hole. The proximity of the GC region makes it an…

Astrophysics · Physics 2016-06-22 Casey James Law

We present improved relative astrometry for stars within the central half parsec of our Galactic Center based on data obtained with the 10 m W. M. Keck Observatory from 1995 to 2017. The new methods used to improve the astrometric precision…

Our Galactic Center hosts over 10% of the known massive stars in the Galaxy. The majority of these stars are located in three particularly massive clusters that formed within the past 5 Myr. While these clusters are extraordinary, their…

Astrophysics · Physics 2009-11-07 Donald F. Figer

This work presents the results from extending the long-term monitoring program of stellar motions within the Galactic Center to include stars with separations of 2 - 7 arcseconds from the compact radio source, Sgr A*. In comparison to the…

Searching for radio pulsars orbiting around the Galactic centre black hole (BH), Sagittarius A$^\star$ (Sgr A$^\star$), represents a holy grail goal for large-area radio telescopes, in particular for the Square Kilometre Array. Follow-up…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2026-04-03 Lijing Shao , Zexin Hu

BlackHoleCam is a project funded by a European Research Council Synergy Grant to build a complete astrophysical description of nearby supermassive black holes by using a combination of radio imaging, pulsar observations, stellar astrometry…

Although it is widely accepted that most galaxies have supermassive black holes (SMBHs) at their centers^{1-3}, concrete proof has proved elusive. Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*)^4, an extremely compact radio source at the center of our Galaxy, is…

Astrophysics · Physics 2009-11-13 Zhi-Qiang Shen , K. Y. Lo , M. -C. Liang , Paul T. P. Ho , J. -H. Zhao

The super-massive 4 million solar mass black hole (SMBH) SgrA* shows flare emission from the millimeter to the X-ray domain. The nucleus of the Milky Way has properties (stellar cluster, young stars, molecular gas and an accreting SMBH)…

Observations of bright and variable "reflected" X-ray emission from molecular clouds located within inner hundred parsec of our Galaxy have demonstrated that the central supermassive black hole, Sgr A*, experienced short and powerful flares…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2019-03-18 E. Churazov , I. Khabibullin , R. Sunyaev , A. Vikhlinin , G. Ponti , C. Federrath , S. Walch

We report on the nature of prominent sources of light and shadow in the Galactic Center. With respect to the Bremsstrahlung X-ray emission of the hot plasma in that region the Galactic Center casts a 'shadow'. The 'shadow' is caused by the…

An attempt is made to reconcile the large wind-loss rates of stars in the Galactic Centre (GC) with the predicted low accretion rate for Sgr A*, the putative blackhole at the heart of the Milky Way. It is found that, independent of the…

Astrophysics · Physics 2016-08-30 R. F. Coker

We present 7 mm lambda VLBA observations of the compact nonthermal radio source in the Galactic Center, Sgr A*. These observations confirm the hypothesis that the image of Sgr A* is a resolved elliptical Gaussian caused by the scattering of…

Astrophysics · Physics 2009-10-30 Geoffrey C. Bower , Donald C. Backer

The center of our galaxy is home to a massive black hole, SgrA*, and a nuclear star cluster containing stellar populations of various ages. While the late type stars may be too old to have retained memory of their initial orbital…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2015-06-18 Ann-Marie Madigan , Oliver Pfuhl , Yuri Levin , Stefan Gillessen , Reinhard Genzel , Hagai B. Perets

Two possible explanations for the low luminosity of the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy are (1) an accretion rate of order the canonical Bondi value (roughly 10^{-5} solar masses per year), but a very low radiative…

Astrophysics · Physics 2009-10-31 Eliot Quataert , Andrei Gruzinov

There has been recent speculation (Davies & King 2005) that the cores of intermediate-mass stars stripped of their envelopes by tidal interaction with the supermassive black hole in the Galactic centre could form a population…

Astrophysics · Physics 2009-11-11 L. M. Dray , A. R. King , M. B. Davies