Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-fqc5m Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-29T10:57:22.469Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The central cluster and X-ray emission from Sgr A*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 August 2006

Robert F. Coker
Affiliation:
Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545, USA email: robc@lanl.gov
Julian M. Pittard
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK email: jmp@ast.leeds.ac.uk
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

At the centre of the Milky Way is Sgr A*, a putative 3 million solar mass black hole with an observed luminosity that is orders of magnitude smaller than that expected from simple accretion theories. The number density of early-type stars is quite high near Sgr A*, so the ensemble of their stellar winds has a significant impact on the black hole's environment.

We present results of 3D hydrodynamic simulations of the accretion of stellar winds onto Sgr A*. Using the LANL/SAIC code, RAGE, we model the central arc-second of the Galaxy, including the central cluster stars (the S-stars) with orbits and wind parameters that match observations. A significant fraction of the winds from the S stars becomes gravitationally bound to the black hole and thus could provide enough hot gas to produce the X-ray emission seen by Chandra. We perform radiative transfer calculations on the 3D hydrodynamic data cubes and present the resulting synthetic X-ray spectrum.

Type
Contributed Papers
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2007

References

Aerts, C. & Lamers, H. J. G. L. M. 2003, A&A, 403, 625Google Scholar
Baganoff, F. K. et al. 2003, ApJ, 591, 891CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baltrusaitis, R. M. et al. 1996, Physics of Fluids, 8, 2471CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eisenhauer, F. et al. 2005, ApJ, 628, 246CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Melia, F. & Falcke, H. 2001, ARAA, 39, 309CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pittard, J. M. & Stevens, I. R. 1997, MNRAS, 292, 298CrossRefGoogle Scholar