The Galactic center (GC) region hosts three of the most massive resolved young clusters in the Local Group and constitutes a test bed for studying the star formation history of the region and inferring the possibility of a top-heavy scenario. Further, recent detection of a large number of apparently isolated massive stars within the inner 80 pc of the Galactic center has raised fundamental questions regarding massive star formation in a such a dense and harsh environment. Noting that most of the isolated massive stars have spectral analogs in the Quintuplet cluster, we have undertaken a combined analysis of the infrared spectra of both selected Quintuplet stars and the isolated objects using Gemini spectroscopy. We present preliminary results, aiming at α-elements versus iron abundances, stellar properties, ages and radial velocities which will differentiate the top-heavy and star-formation scenarios.

In 2011, we discovered a compact gas cloud (“G2”) with roughly three Earth masses that is falling on a near-radial orbit toward the massive black hole in the Galactic center. The orbit is well constrained and pericenter passage is predicted for early 2014. Our data beautifully show that G2 gets tidally sheared apart due to the massive black hole's force. During the next months, we expect that in addition to the tidal effects, hydrodynamics get important, when G2 collides with the hot ambient gas around Sgr A*. Simulations show that ultimately, the cloud's material might fall into the massive black hole. Predictions for the accretion rate and luminosity evolution, however, are very difficult due to the many unknowns. Nevertheless, this might be a unique opportunity in the next years to observe how gas feeds a massive black hole in a galactic nucleus.

We give an update of the observations and analysis of G2 – the gaseous red emission-line object that is on a very eccentric orbit around the Galaxy's central black hole and predicted to come within 2400 RS in early 2014. During 2013, the laser guide star adaptive optics systems on the W. M. Keck I and II telescopes were used to obtain three epochs of spectroscopy and imaging at the highest spatial resolution currently possible in the near-IR. The updated orbital solution derived from radial velocities in addition to Br-γ line astrometry is consistent with our earlier estimates. Strikingly, even ∼ 6 months before pericenter passage there is no perceptible deviation from a Keplerian orbit. We furthermore show that a proposed “tail” of G2 is likely not associated with it but is rather an independent gas structure. We also show that G2 does not seem to be unique, since several red emission-line objects can be found in the central arcsecond. Taken together, it seems more likely that G2 is ultimately stellar in nature, although there is clearly gas associated with it.

A fast moving infrared excess source (G2) which is widely interpreted as a core-less gas and dust cloud approaches Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*) on a presumably elliptical orbit. VLT Ks-band and Keck K′-band data result in clear continuum identifications and proper motions of this ∼19m Dusty S-cluster Object (DSO). In 2002-2007 it is confused with the star S63, but free of confusion again since 2007. Its near-infrared (NIR) colors and a comparison to other sources in the field speak in favor of the DSO being an IR excess star with photospheric continuum emission at 2 microns than a core-less gas and dust cloud. We also find very compact L′-band emission (<0.1″) contrasted by the reported extended (0.03″ up to ∼0.2″ for the tail) Brγ emission. The presence of a star will change the expected accretion phenomena, since a stellar Roche lobe may retain a fraction of the material during and after the peri-bothron passage.

We discuss observations of Sagittarius A* with NACO@VLT in K-band and recent synchronous observations with NIRC2@Keck II and OSIRIS@Keck I in L′-band and H-band, respectively. The variability of Sagittarius A* in the near infrared is a continuous one-state process that can be described by a pure red-noise process having a timescale of a few hours. We describe this process and its properties in detail. Our newest observations with the Keck telescopes represent the first truly synchronous high cadence data set to test for time variability of the spectral index within the near infrared. We discovered a time-variable spectral index that might be interpreted as a time lag of the L′-band with respect to the H-band.

We present a brief overview of results obtained from near-infrared polarized observations of Sgr A*, which is associated with the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way. The observations have been carried out using the NACO adaptive optics instrument at the VLT UT4 in the infrared Ks-band from 2004 to 2012. Several polarized flares have been observed in this time interval which allow us to determine the statistical properties of NIR linearly polarized light from Sgr A*. Linear polarization at 2.2 μm and its variations can help us to constrain the physical conditions of the accretion process around this supermassive black hole.

We present the results of radio monitoring observations of Sgr A* at 7 mm (i.e. 43 GHz) with the VLBI Exploration of Radio Astrometry (VERA), which is a VLBI array in Japan. VERA provides angular resolution on millisecond scales, resolving structures within 100 Schwarzschild radii of Sgr A* , similar to the Very Large Baseline Array (VLBA). We performed multi-epoch observations of Sgr A* in 2005 - 2008, and started monitoring it again with VERA from 2013 January to trace the current G2 encounter event. Our preliminary results in 2013 show that Sgr A* on mas scales has been in an ordinary state as of August 2013, although some fraction of the G2 cloud already passed the pericenter of Sgr A* in April 2013. We will continue monitoring Sgr A* with VERA and the newly developed KaVA (KVN and VERA Array).

We present a new way of describing the flares occurring from Sgr A* within a single zone with a self-consistent calculation of the particle distribution. The results allow us to give an interpretation to the flaring events generated very close to the supermassive black hole (SMBH) without assuming a specific particle distribution. We conclude that the flare data are more likely generated by a weakly magnetized plasma in which the particles flow in and out as expected from an accretion flow. Such a plasma, with prescription for non-thermal acceleration, injection, escape, and cooling losses, gives a spectrum with a break between the infra-red and the X-ray, allowing a better simultaneous match in the different wavelengths. The parameters favor the non-thermal synchrotron spectrum, and a decrease/increase of the magnetic field and plasma density are not favored for producing the flare event, but particle acceleration must be happening by other means. We show that under certain conditions, the real particle distribution can differ significantly from the standard distributions used in such studies.

Very long baseline interferometry observations at millimeter wavelengths have detected source structure in Sgr A* on event horizon scales. Near-infrared interferometry will achieve similar resolution in the next few years. These experiments provide an unprecedented opportunity to explore strong gravity around black holes, but interpreting the data requires physical modeling. I discuss the calculation of images, spectra, and light curves from relativistic MHD simulations of black hole accretion. The models provide an excellent description of current observations, and predict that we may be on the verge of detecting a black hole shadow, which would constitute the first direct evidence for the existence of black holes.

An object called G2 was recently discovered moving towards the supermassive black hole in the Galactic center. G2 emits infrared (IR) lines and continuum, which allows constraining its properties. The question is still unresolved whether G2 has a central windy star or it is a coreless cloud. Assuming the object is a cloud originating near the apocenter I perform line/continuum IR diagnostics, revisit estimates of non-thermal emission from pericenter passage, and speculate about future observational prospects. This work is partially reported in Shcherbakov (2013) and partially consists of new ideas discussed at the conference.

The origin of the dense gas cloud “G2” discovered in the Galactic center (Gillessen et al. 2012) is still a debated puzzle. G2 might be a diffuse cloud or the result of an outflow from an invisible star embedded in it. We present here detailed simulations of the evolution of winds on G2's orbit. We find that the hydrodynamic interaction with the hot atmosphere present in the Galactic center and the extreme gravitational field of the supermassive black hole must be taken into account when modeling such a source scenario. We also find that in this scenario most of the Brγ luminosity is expected to come from the highly filamentary densest shocked wind material. G2's observational properties can be used to constrain the properties of the outflow and our best model has a mass outflow rate of Ṁw=8.8 × 10−8 M⊙ yr−1 and a wind velocity of vw = 50 km s−1. These values are compatible with those of a young TTauri star wind, as already suggested by Scoville & Burkert (2013).

The radio flux from the synchrotron emission of electrons accelerated in the forward bow shock of G2 is expected to have peaked when the forward shock passes close to the pericenter from the Galactic center, around autumn of 2013. This radio flux is model dependent. We find that if G2 were to be a momentum-supported bow shock of a faint star with a strong wind, the radio synchrotron flux from the forward-shock heated ISM is well below the quiescent radio flux of Sgr A*. By contrast, if G2 is a diffuse cloud, the radio flux is predicted to be much larger than the quiescent radio flux and therefore should have already been detected or will be detected shortly. No such radiation has been observed to date. Radio measurements can reveal the nature of G2 well before G2 completes its periapsis passage.

AX J1745.6–2901 and GRS 1741–2853 are two transient neutron star low-mass X-ray binaries that are located within ≃ 10′ from the Galactic center. Multi-year monitoring observations with the Swift/XRT has exposed several accretion outbursts from these objects. We report on their updated X-ray light curves and renewed activity that occurred in 2010–2013.

Using three-dimensional, moving-mesh simulations, we investigate the future evolution of the recently discovered gas cloud G2 traveling through the galactic center. From our simulations we expect an average feeding rate onto Sgr A* in the range of (5−19) × 10−8M⊙ yr−1 beginning in 2014. This accretion varies by less than a factor of three on timescales ∼ 1 month, and shows no more than a factor of 10 difference between the maximum and minimum observed rates within any given model. These rates are comparable to the current estimated accretion rate in the immediate vicinity of Sgr A*, although they represent only a small (< 10%) increase over the current expected feeding rate at the effective inner boundary of our simulations (racc = 750 RS ∼ 1015 cm). We also explore multiple possible equations of state to describe the gas. In examining the Br-γ light curves produced from our simulations, we find that all of our isothermal models predict significant (factor of 10) enhancements in the luminosity of G2 as it approaches pericenter, in conflict with observations. Models that instead allow the cloud to heat as it is compressed do better at matching observations.

The Galactic center supermassive black hole is surrounded by orbiting clouds of gas. These clumps of gas may collide with each other, losing angular momentum and plunging towards the center. Observations of X-ray reflection from molecular clouds surrounding the Galactic center show evidence for enhanced activity of Sagittarius A* during the past few hundred years. These observations enable us to place constraints on the nature of past accretion events responsible for this enhanced activity. We model the source intrinsic luminosity of Sgr A* using multiple accretion events occurring at various moments in time, characterized by a range of angular momentum We also applied our scheme to the case of G2 cloud in the Galactic center.

We searched the time lag between the intra-day variables (IDVs) of Sagittarius A* at 22, 43, and 86 GHz bands using the Korean VLBI Network (KVN). The time lags between the IDV flare peaks at 22 and 43 GHz are reported, and they suggest that the flare emissions come from adiabatically expanding plasma blobs, ejected close to the Galactic center black hole. We searched the time lags between light curves at 90 and 102 GHz using the Nobeyama Millimeter Array, but could not find significant time lags. In order to detect the diversity of the time lags of Sgr A* flares, we performed observations of Sgr A* in the 22, 43, and 86 GHz bands using the KVN in the winter of 2013. Because the receiver system of KVN can observe Sgr A* in these three bands simultaneously, the KVN is very useful to detect the time lags of Sgr A* flares.

Recently the gas and dust cloud “G2” was discovered on a highly eccentric orbit around the massive black hole in the Galactic center. The orbit will bring the cloud as close as 2400 Schwarzschild radii to Sgr A* beginning of 2014. With the help of hydrodynamical simulations using the PLUTO code, we investigate possible origins and the fate of the cloud in the coming years. In this proceedings article, we concentrate on a scenario where G2 is interpreted as a diffuse gas cloud and show its detailed evolution in the observable position-velocity diagrams. We further elaborate on the problem of the tail emission which might or might not be related to the G2 cloud.

We report on an ongoing community service observing program to follow the expected encounter of the G2 cloud with the black hole Sgr A* in 2013. The NRAO Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) has been observing the Sgr A region since 2012 October on roughly a bi-monthly interval, each for two hours, cycling through eight observing bands at their default continuum frequencies, using 2 GHz of bandwidth. The data from the monitoring program are publicly available through the NRAO data archive immediately after observing has completed, and the flux densities are published by NRAO staff as soon as the data are reduced. The cumulative results of the monitoring effort are posted on the service observing web page https://science.nrao.edu/science/service-observing and so far do not indicate a significant brightening of the emission from the direction of Sgr A* over the period 2012 October to 2013 September, within the calibration uncertainties.

We have been conducting flux monitoring observations of Sgr A* at 8 GHz and 2 GHz using the NICT Kashima-Koganei VLBI system (109 km baseline) since mid-February 2013. The primary objective of the monitoring is a search for flux variation which is expected to be caused by the interaction between the G2 cloud and the accretion disk. Until 2013 September 22, we observed Sgr A* for 39 days, five hours on each day. Four quasars (NRAO 530, PKS 1622–253, PKS 1622–297, PKS 1921–293) were also observed as flux calibrators every 6 minutes. No significant change nor variation has been detected in the 8 GHz flux density of Sgr A*. The 8 GHz flux density was 0.81 ± 0.07 Jy (preliminary), while no significant 2 GHz emission was detected by our system. We will continue monitoring as often as possible until at least 2014 May.

Recent X-ray emission events in the Galactic center would be expected to generate an X-ray reflection response within the surrounding clouds of the central molecular zone, in the Galactic disk and even, if powerful enough, in clouds outside our Galaxy. We review here the current constraints on Sgr A*'s past activity obtained through this method, with particular emphasis on the strong evidence that has been gathered for multiple X-ray flashes during the past few hundred years.