Coordinated multi-wavelength observations of Sgr A*
| Authors |
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| Publication date | 2008 |
| Journal | Journal of Physics. Conference Series |
| Event | The Universe under the Microscope: Astrophysics at High Angular Resolution (AHAR 2008), Bad Honnef, Germany |
| Volume | Issue number | 131 |
| Pages (from-to) | 012002 |
| Organisations |
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| Abstract |
We report on recent near-infrared (NIR) and X-ray observations of Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*), the electromagnetic manifestation of the ~4x10^6 M-circle-dot solar masses super-massive black hole (SMBH) at the Galactic Center. The goal of these coordinated multi-wavelength observations is to investigate the variable emission from Sgr A* in order to obtain a better understanding of the underlying physical processes in the accretion flow/outflow. The observations have been carried out using the NACO adaptive optics (AO) instrument at the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (July 2005, May 2007) and the ACIS-I instrument aboard the Chandra X-ray Observatory (July 2005). We report on a polarized NIR flare synchronous to a 8x1033 erg/s X-ray flare in July 2005, and a further flare in May 2007 that shows the highest sub-flare to flare contrast observed until now. The observations can be interpreted in the framework of a model involving a temporary disk with a short jet. In the disk component flux density variations can be explained due to hot spots on relativistic orbits around the central SMBH. The variations of the sub-structures of the May 2007 flare are interpreted as a variation of the hot spot structure due to differential rotation within the disk.
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| Document type | Article |
| Note | Proceedings title: The Universe under the Microscope: Astrophysics at High Angular Resolution: 21-25 April 2008, Bad Honnef, Germany Publisher: IOP Publishing Place of publication: Bristol Editors: R. Schödel, A. Eckart, S. Pfalzner, E. Ros |
| Published at | https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/131/1/012002 |
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