Related papers: The Underluminous Nature of Sgr A*
Sgr A*, the massive black hole at the center of the Galaxy, varies in radio through X-ray emission on hourly time scales. The flare activity is thought to arise from the innermost region of an accretion flow onto Sgr A*. We present…
Sgr A* is considered to be a massive black hole at the Galactic center and is known to be variable in radio, millimeter, near-IR and X-rays. Recent multi-wavelength observing campaigns show a simultaneous X-ray and near-IR flare, as well as…
Recent infrared (IR) observations of the center of our Galaxy indicate that the supermassive black hole source Sgr A* is strongly variable in the IR. The timescale for the variability, $\sim 30$ min, is comparable to that of the X-ray…
Our central Galactic supermassive black hole, Sgr A*, exists mostly in a very stable, extremely low-luminosity (~10^{-9} L_Edd), thermal quiescent state, which is interrupted roughly daily by a brief, nonthermal X-ray flare. Because they…
Sgr A*, the supermassive black hole (SMBH) at the center of our Milky Way Galaxy, is known to be a variable source of X-ray, near-infrared (NIR), and submillimeter (submm) radiation and therefore a prime candidate to study the…
The interplay between supermassive black holes (SMBHs) and their environments is believed to command an essential role in galaxy evolution. The majority of these SMBHs are in the radiative inefficient accretion phase where this interplay…
We examine 1D two-temperature accretion flows around a supermassive black hole, adopting the specific angular momentum \lambda, the total specific energy \epsilon and the input accretion rate \dot M_{input} = 4.0x10^{-6} solar mass/yr…
Sgr A*, the putative black hole in our Galactic Center (GC), is extraordinary dim in all frequencies. Apparently the black hole is unable to accrete at the Bondi accretion rate for some reason. Another mystery of Sgr A* is the recently…
We propose a 2-temperature radial dynamical model of plasma flow near Sgr A* and fit the bremsstrahlung emission to extensive quiescent X-Ray Chandra data. The model extends from several arcseconds to black hole (BH) gravitational radius,…
The Galaxy's supermassive black hole, Sgr A*, produces an outburst of infrared radiation about once every 6 hours, sometimes accompanied by an even more energetic flurry of X-rays. The NIR photons are produced by nonthermal synchrotron…
We review our current understanding to the accretion and ejection processes in Sgr A*. Roughly speaking, they correspond to the quiescent and flare states of the source respectively. The high-resolution {\it Chandra} observations to the gas…
Sgr A* is the closest massive black hole and can be observed with the highest angular resolution. Nevertheless, our current understanding of the accretion process in this source is very poor. The inflow is almost certainly of low radiative…
The X-ray mission Chandra has observed a dramatic X-ray flare -- a brightening by a factor of 50 for only three hours -- from Sgr A*, the Galactic Center supermassive black hole. Sgr A* has never shown variability of this amplitude in the…
The recent detection of a three-hour X-ray flare from Sgr A* by Chandra provides very strong evidence for a compact emitting region near this supermassive black hole at the Galactic center. Sgr A*'s mm/sub-mm spectrum and polarimetric…
Sgr A* is a source of strongly variable emission in several energy bands. It is generally agreed that this emission comes from the material surrounding the black hole which is either falling in or flowing out. The activity must be driven by…
We have investigated the nature of flare emission from Sgr A* during multi-wavelength observations of this source that took place in 2004, 2005 and 2006. We present evidence for dimming of submm and radio flux during the peak of near-IR…
Sgr A* exhibits flaring in the infrared several times each day, occasionally accompanied by flaring in X-rays. The infrared flares are believed to arise through synchrotron emission from a transient population of accelerated electrons. The…
Sgr A* is probably the supermassive black hole being investigated most extensively due to its proximity. Several theoretical models for its steady state emission have been proposed in the past two decades. Both the radiative-inefficient…
Recent measurements of stellar orbits provide compelling evidence that the compact radio source Sagittarius A* at the Galactic Centre is a 3.6-million-solar-mass black hole. Sgr A* is remarkably faint in all wavebands other than the radio…
I review radiatively inefficient accretion flow models for the 2.6 million solar mass black hole (BH) in the Galactic Center. I argue for a 'concordance model' of Sgr A*: both theory and observations suggest that hot ambient gas around the…