Related papers: Sgr A*: The Optimal Testbed of Strong-Field Gravit…

The discovery and timing of radio pulsars within the Galactic centre is a fundamental aspect of the SKA Science Case, responding to the topic of "Strong Field Tests of Gravity with Pulsars and Black Holes" (Kramer et al. 2004; Cordes et al.…

Over the last decade, X-ray observations of Sgr A* have revealed a black hole in a deep sleep, punctuated roughly once per day by brief flares. The extreme X-ray faintness of this supermassive black hole has been a long-standing puzzle in…

We developed a numerical methodology to compute the fully-relativistic propagation time of photons emitted by a pulsar in orbit around a massive compact object, like the supermassive black hole Sagittarius A* in the Galactic Center, whose…

The theory of general relativity (GR) is the standard framework for the description of gravitation and the geometric structure of spacetime. With the recent advancement of observational instruments, it has become possible to probe the…

Recent observations of Sgr A* give strong constraints for possible models of the physical nature of Sgr A* and suggest the presence of a massive black~hole with M<2 10^6 M_sun surrounded by an accretion disk which we estimate to radiate at…

We propose a new test of strong-field general relativity (GR) based on the universal interferometric signature of the black hole photon ring. The photon ring is a narrow ring-shaped feature, predicted by GR but not yet observed, that…

The Milky Way centre hosts a supermassive Black Hole (BH) with a mass of ~4*10^6 M_Sun. Sgr A*, its electromagnetic counterpart, currently appears as an extremely weak source with a luminosity L~10^-9 L_Edd. The lowest known Eddington ratio…

The existence of a massive black hole in the center of the Milky Way, coinciding with the radio source Sgr A*, is being established on more and more solid ground. In principle, this black hole, acting as a gravitational lens, is able to…

The Galactic Center is an excellent laboratory for studying phenomena and physical processes that may be occurring in many other galactic nuclei. The Center of our Milky Way is by far the closest galactic nucleus, and observations with…

With 10 years of high-resolution imaging data now available on the stellar cluster in the Galactic Center, we analyze the dynamics of the stars at projected distances $\leq1.2''$ from the central black hole candidate Sagittarius A* (Sgr…

The discovery of a pulsar (PSR) in orbit around a black hole (BH) is expected to provide a superb new probe of relativistic gravity and BH properties. Apart from a precise mass measurement for the BH, one could expect a clean verification…

During the peak of their accretion phase, supermassive black holes in galactic cores are known to emit very high levels of ionizing radiation, becoming visible over intergalactic distances as quasars or active galactic nuclei (AGN). Here,…

The Center of our Galaxy is a peculiar region where a number of crucial astrophysical phenomena take place, from star formation to SN explosions and accretion onto a massive black hole. The quest for a massive black hole in the Galactic…

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 cores of most galaxies are thought to harbour supermassive black holes, which power galactic nuclei by converting the gravitational energy of accreting matter into radiation (ref 1). Sagittarius A*, the compact source of radio, infrared…

Stars orbiting Sgr A* at the Milky Way's center provide a unique laboratory to test gravity and dark matter (DM). We demonstrate that DM interactions in stellar interiors induce a novel momentum transfer force, altering orbits beyond…

The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) will soon provide the first high-resolution images of the Galactic Centre supermassive black hole (SMBH) candidate Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*), enabling us to probe gravity in the strong-field regime. Besides…

The supermassive black hole (SMBH), Sgr A*, at the Galactic Center is surrounded by a molecular circumnuclear disk (CND) lying between 1.5-4 pc radii. The irregular and clumpy structures of the CND, suggest dynamical evolution and episodic…

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…

The recently released images of the supermassive black holes in the M87 galaxy and the galaxy of our own make probing black hole spacetimes and testing general relativity (GR) possible. The violation of equatorial reflection symmetry of…