Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gbm5v Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T20:14:49.652Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Radio Observations of the Galactic Center

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 August 2015

D. C. Backer
D. C. Backer*
Affiliation:
Radio Astronomy Laboratory University of California, Berkeley

Extract

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.

Low-resolution, radio-intensity maps of the Galactic Center are dominated by two structures: the extended, nonthermal region between ℓ = 0°.0 and 0°.3 called Sagittarius A(East); and the bright thermal source at ℓ = −0°.05 and b = −0°.05 called Sagittarius A(West). SgrA(East) is probably a supernova remnant. SgrA(West) is a dense, gaseous region which is the very center of our Galaxy. Within SgrA(West) is a pc-sized cluster of infrared sources — late-type stars and gas condensations — swirling about with a dispersion of 250 km s−1. The cluster contains a unique radio source with the following properties: a size not exceeding 1015 cm, a radio luminosity exceeding 1034 erg s−1, and rather stable properties on a time scale of 108 s. This compact, nonthermal object (SgrAcn below) may be surrounded by a 0.1pc infrared source. Models for SgrAcn include both 106 M⊙ black holes related to the central objects in radio galaxies and quasars (Oort 1977, van Buren 1978) and 1 M⊙ degenerate stars related to pulsars and X-ray binaries (Reynolds and McKee 1980). We present below the radio intensity spectrum as a basic datum for further development of either class of models.

Type
Research Article
Information
Symposium - International Astronomical Union , Volume 97: Extragalactic Radio Sources , 1982 , pp. 389 - 390
Copyright
Copyright © Reidel 1982 

References

Oort, J.H.: 1977, Ann. Rev. Astron. Astrophys., 15, pp. 295–362.Google Scholar
Reynolds, S.P., and McKee, C.F.: 1980, Astrophys. J., 239, pp. 893–897.Google Scholar
van Buren, H.G.: 1978, Astron. Astrophys., 70, pp. 707–717.Google Scholar