Propagation of fast-mode magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD) compression waves is traced in the Galactic Centre. MHD waves produced by the active Galactic nucleus (Sgr A) focus on the molecular clouds such as Sgr B in the central molecular zone, which will trigger star formation, or possibly starburst. MHD waves newly excited by the starburst propagate backward, and focus on the nucleus (Sgr A), where implosive waves compress the nuclear gas to promote fueling the nucleus and may trigger nucleus activity. Echoing focusing of MHD waves between Sgr A (active galactic nucleus: AGN) and Sgr B (starburst) trigger each other at high efficiency by minimal energy requirement. It also solves the problem of angular momentum for AGN fueling, as the focusing waves do not require global gas flow.
The radio emission of normal galaxies may become opaque at low radio frequencies due to thermal ionized gas. We performed modelling of the free-free absorption to reproduce the ocal spectrum of SgrA Complex and the global spectrum of the starburst galaxy M82. We show the importance of resolution of radio observations and the value of filling factor of the absorbing gas for correct modelling of the absorption.
The Central Molecular Zone (CMZ) of the Milky Way shows several peculiar properties: a large star formation rate, some of the most massive young star clusters and molecular clouds in the Galaxy, and a twisted ring morphology in molecular gas. In this paper, I use SPH simulations to show that most of these properties can be explained as due to a recent outburst of AGN activity in Sgr A*, the central supermassive black hole of the Milky Way. In particular, the narrow ring of dense gas, massive gas clouds, young star clusters and an elevated SFR can all be caused by the passage of an AGN outflow …
Sgr A East is the supernova remnant closest to the centre of the Milky Way. Its age has been estimated to be either very young, around 1-2 kyr, or about 10 kyr, and its exact origin remains unclear. We aspire to create a simple model of a supernova explosion that reproduces the shape, size, and location of Sgr A East. Using a simplified hydrodynamical code, we simulated the evolution of a supernova remnant in the medium around the Galactic centre. The latter consists of a nearby massive molecular cloud with which Sgr A East is known to be interacting and a wind from the nuclear star cluster. O…
We present 168 arcmin^2 spectral images of the Sgr B2 complex taken with Herschel/SPIRE-FTS. We detect ubiquitous emission from CO (up to J=12-11), H2O, [CI]492, 809 GHz, and [NII] 205 um lines. We also present maps of the SiO, N2H+, HCN, and HCO+ emission obtained with the IRAM30m telescope. The cloud environment dominates the emitted FIR (80%), H2O 752 GHz (60 %) mid-J CO (91%), and [CI] (93 %) luminosity. The region shows very extended [NII] emission (spatially correlated with the 24 and 70 um dust emission). The observed FIR luminosities imply G_0~10^3. The extended [CI] emission arises fr…
The origin of the molecular clouds orbiting SgrA* is one of the most debated questions about our Galactic Centre. Here, we present the hydrodynamic simulation of a molecular cloud infalling towards SgrA*, performed with the adaptive-mesh-refinement code RAMSES. Through such simulation, we propose that the circumnuclear disc and the +20 km/s cloud originated from the same tidal disruption episode, occurred less than 1 Myr ago. We also show that recent star formation is to be expected in the +20 km/s cloud, as also suggested by recent observations.
The Circumnuclear Disk (CND) is a torus of dust and moleular gas rotating about the galactic centre and extends from 1.6 to 7pc from the central massive black hole SgrA*. Large Velocity Gradient modelling of selected transitions of HCN rotational collisions with molecular hydrogen is used to infer Hydrogen density and HCN opacities. The analysis concludes that the predicted hydrogen number density of CND clumps is about 10^6 which is insufficiently dense to withstand the tidal shear forces generated by SgrA* and the stellar group in the cavity between the galactic centre and the CND.
We study the structure and kinematics of the OH-streamer and the +80 km/s cloud and their interactions with the circumnuclear disk (CND) and with other molecular clouds in the vicinity of the Galactic centre (GC), and we map OH absorption at about 6" resolution at R $\le$ 10 pc from the GC, with about 9 km/s velocity resolution. The VLA was used to map OH line absorption at the 1665 and 1667 MHz lambda doublet main lines towards the Sagittarius A complex. Strong OH absorption was found in the OH-streamer, the southern streamer (SS), the +20, +50, and +80 km/s molecular clouds, the molecular be…
Sgr A$^*$ is the super massive black hole residing in the centre of the Milky Way. There is plenty of observational evidence that a massive gas cloud fell into the central parsec of the Milky Way $\sim 6$ million years ago, triggering formation of a disc of young stars and activating Sgr A$^*$. In addition to the disc, there is an unexplained population of young stars on randomly oriented orbits. Here we hypothesize that these young stars were formed by fragmentation of a massive quasi-spherical gas shell driven out from Sgr A$^*$ potential well by an energetic outflow. To account for the prop…
We develop a simple dynamical model for the evolution of gas in the centres of barred spiral galaxies, using the Milky Way's Central Molecular Zone (CMZ, i.e., the central few hundred pc) as a case study. We show that, in the presence of a galactic bar, gas in a disc in the central regions of a galaxy will be driven inwards by angular momentum transport induced by acoustic instabilities within the bar's inner Lindblad resonance. This transport process drives turbulence within the gas that temporarily keeps it strongly gravitationally stable and prevents the onset of rapid star formation. Howev…
Context. The Odin satellite is now into its sixteenth year of operation, much surpassing its design life of two years. One of the sources which Odin has observed in great detail is the Sgr A Complex in the centre of the Milky Way. Aims. To study the presence of NH3 in the Galactic Centre and spiral arms. Methods. Recently, Odin has made complementary observations of the 572 GHz NH3 line towards the Sgr A +50 km/s Cloud and Circumnuclear Disk (CND). Results. Significant NH3 emission has been observed in both the +50 km/s Cloud and the CND. Clear NH3 absorption has also been detected in many of …
We assess the astrometric detectability of intermediate-mass black holes populating the inner parsec of the Milky Way Galaxy. The presence of these objects induces dynamical effects on Sgr A* and the star S2, which could be detected by next generation astrometric instruments that enable micro-arcsecond astrometry. An allowed population of ten $10^4~M_{\odot}$ IMBHs within one parsec induces an angular shift of about 65 $μ$as yr$^{-1}$ on the position of Sgr A*, corresponding to a perpendicular velocity component magnitude of 1.6 km s$^{-1}$. It also induces changes in the orbit of S2 that surp…
The distribution of N/O abundance ratios calculated by the detailed modelling of different galaxy spectra at z<4 is investigated. Supernova (SN) and long gamma-ray-burst (LGRB) host galaxies cover different redshift domains. N/O in SN hosts increases due to secondary N production towards low z (0.01) accompanying the growing trend of active galaxies (AGN, LINER). N/O in LGRB hosts decreases rapidly between z>1 and z ~0.1 following the N/H trend and reach the characteristic N/O ratios calculated for the HII regions in local and nearby galaxies. The few short period GRB (SGRB) hosts included in …
Despite past panchromatic observations of the innermost part of the Milky Way, the overall structure of the Galactic Centre (GC) remains enigmatic in terms of geometry. In this paper, we aim to show how polarimetry can probe the three-dimensional position of the molecular material in the central ~100 pc of the GC. We investigate a model where the central supermassive black hole Sgr A* is radiatively coupled to a fragmented circumnuclear disc (CND), an elliptical twisted ring representative of the central molecular zone (CMZ), and the two main, bright molecular clouds Sgr B2 and Sgr C. 8 -- 35 …
The source G2 has already completed its pericentre passage around Sgr A*, the super-massive black hole in the centre of our Galaxy. Although it has been monitored for 15 years, its astrophysical nature and origin still remain unknown. In this work, we aim to test the hypothesis of G2 being the result of a stellar wind collision. To do so, we study the motion and final fate of gas clumps formed as a result of collisions of stellar winds in massive binaries. Our approach is based on a test-particle model in order to describe the trajectories of such clumps. The model takes into account the gravi…
Measurements of stellar orbits provide compelling evidence that the compact radio source Sagittarius A* at the Galactic Centre is a black hole four million times the mass of the Sun. With the exception of modest X-ray and infrared flares, Sgr A* is surprisingly faint, suggesting that the accretion rate and radiation efficiency near the event horizon are currently very low. Here we report the presence of a dense gas cloud approximately three times the mass of Earth that is falling into the accretion zone of Sgr A*. Our observations tightly constrain the cloud's orbit to be highly eccentric, wit…
We present the serendipitous discovery of the fastest Main Sequence hyper-velocity star (HVS) by the Southern Stellar Stream Spectroscopic Survey (S5). The star S5-HVS1 is a $\sim 2.35$ M$_\odot$ A-type star located at a distance of $\sim 9$ kpc from the Sun and has a heliocentric radial velocity of $1017\pm 2.7$ km/s without any signature of velocity variability. The current 3-D velocity of the star in the Galactic frame is $1755\pm50$ km/s. When integrated backwards in time, the orbit of the star points unambiguously to the Galactic Centre, implying that S5-HVS1 was kicked away from Sgr A* w…
Stars orbiting within 1$\arcsec$ of the supermassive black hole in the Galactic Centre, Sgr A*, are notoriously difficult to detect due to obscuration by gas and dust. We show that some stars orbiting this region may be detectable via synchrotron emission. In such instances, a bow shock forms around the star and accelerates the electrons. We calculate that around the 10 GHz band (radio) and at 10$^{14}$ Hz (infrared) the luminosity of a star orbiting the black hole is comparable to the luminosity of Sgr A*. The strength of the synchrotron emission depends on a number of factors including the s…
We examine the temporal and spectral properties of nine Fe-Ka bright molecular clouds within about 30 pc of Sgr A*, in order to understand and constrain the primary energising source of the Fe fluorescence. Significant Fe-Ka variability was detected, with a spatial and temporal pattern consistent with that reported in previous studies. The main breakthrough that sets our paper apart from earlier contributions on this topic is the direct measurement of the column density and the Fe abundance of the MCs in our sample. We used the EW measurements to infer the average Fe abundance within the cloud…
We report the first detection of the Galactic Centre massive black hole, Sgr~A*, in the far infrared. Our measurements were obtained with PACS on board the \emph{Herschel} satellite at $100~\mathrm{μm}$ and $160~\mathrm{μm}$. While the warm dust in the Galactic Centre is too bright to allow for a direct detection of Sgr~A*, we measure a significant and simultaneous variation of its flux of $ΔF_{ν\widehat{=}160 ~\mathrm{μm}} = (0.27\pm0.06)~\mathrm{Jy}$ and $ΔF_{ν\widehat{=}100 ~\mathrm{μm}}= (0.16\pm0.10)~\mathrm{Jy}$ during one observation. The significance level of the $160 ~\mathrm{μm}$ ban…
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 BH. However, it was not always so; traces of "glorious" active periods can be found in the surrounding medium. We review here our current view of the X-ray emission from the Galactic Center (GC) and its environment, and the expected signatures (e.g. X-ray reflection) of a past flare. We discuss the history of Sgr A*'s past activity and its impact on the sur…
Radio pulsars in relativistic binary systems are unique tools to study the curved space-time around massive compact objects. The discovery of a pulsar closely orbiting the super-massive black hole at the centre of our Galaxy, Sgr A*, would provide a superb test-bed for gravitational physics. To date, the absence of any radio pulsar discoveries within a few arc minutes of Sgr A* has been explained by one principal factor: extreme scattering of radio waves caused by inhomogeneities in the ionized component of the interstellar medium in the central 100 pc around Sgr A*. Scattering, which causes t…
The galactic central black hole Sgr A* exhibits outbursts of radiation in the near infrared (so-called IR flares). One model of these events consists in a hotspot orbiting on the innermost stable circular orbit (ISCO) of the hole. These outbursts can be used as a probe of the central gravitational potential. One main scientific goal of the second generation VLTI instrument GRAVITY is to observe these flares astrometrically. Here, the astrometric precision of GRAVITY is investigated in imaging mode, which consists in analysing the image computed from the interferometric data. The capability of …
We have used the Odin submillimetre-wave satellite telescope to observe the ground state transitions of ortho-ammonia and ortho-water, including their 15N, 18O, and 17O isotopologues, towards Sgr B2. The extensive simultaneous velocity coverage of the observations, >500 km/s, ensures that we can probe the conditions of both the warm, dense gas of the molecular cloud Sgr B2 near the Galactic centre, and the more diffuse gas in the Galactic disk clouds along the line-of-sight. We present ground-state NH3 absorption in seven distinct velocity features along the line-of-sight towards Sgr B2. We fi…
Propagation of fast-mode magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) compression waves is traced in the Galactic Center with a poloidal magnetic cylinder. MHD waves ejected from the nucleus are reflected and guided along the magnetic field, exhibiting vertically stretched fronts. The radio threads and non-thermal filaments are explained as due to tangential views of the waves driven by sporadic activity in Sgr A$^*$, or by multiple supernovae. In the latter case, the threads could be extremely deformed relics of old SNRs exploded in the nucleus.
We present general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic (GRMHD) numerical simulations of the accretion flow around the supermassive black hole in the Galactic centre, Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*). The simulations include for the first time radiative cooling processes (synchrotron, bremsstrahlung, and inverse Compton) self-consistently in the dynamics, allowing us to test the common simplification of ignoring all cooling losses in the modeling of Sgr A*. We confirm that for Sgr A*, neglecting the cooling losses is a reasonable approximation if the Galactic centre is accreting below ~10^{-8} Msun/yr i.e.…
The central parsec of the Milky Way is a very special region of our Galaxy; it contains the supermassive black hole associated with Sgr A* as well as a significant number of early-type stars and a complex structure of streamers of neutral and ionized gas, within two parsecs from the centre, representing a unique laboratory. We report the identification of a high velocity compact nebular filament 2.2 arcsec south of Sgr A*. The structure extends over ~1 arcsec and presents a strong velocity gradient of ~200 km s^{-1} arcsec^{-1}. The peak of maximum emission, seen in [Fe III] and He I lines, is…
Flares in X-ray and near infrared are observed above the quiescent emission of the supermassive black hole (SBH) in the Galactic Centre (GC) at a rate of approximately once per day. One proposed energy source for these flares is the tidal disruption of planetesimals with radius $\gtrsim 10$ km passing within $\sim$ 1 AU of the SBH. Very little is known about the formation and evolution of planetesimals in galactic nuclei such as the GC, making predictions for flaring event rates uncertain. We explore two scenarios for the formation of planetesimals in the GC: (1) in a large-scale cloud bound t…
We show that a combination of infrared photometry from WISE and 2MASS surveys can yield highly pure samples of M giant stars. We take advantage of the new WISE$\cap$2MASS M giant selection to trace the Sagittarius trailing tail behind the Galactic disk in the direction of the anti-centre. The M giant candidates selected via broad-band photometry are confirmed spectroscopically using AAOmega on the AAT in 3 fields around the extremity of the Sgr trailing tail in the Southern Galactic hemisphere. We demonstrate that at the Sgr longitude $\tilde Λ_{\odot} = 204^{\circ}$, the line-of-sight velocit…
The observations of FIR line and continuum spectra throughout the Galactic centre and in some regions of the disc are analysed in order to determine the physical conditions (densities, shock velocities, radiation parameters, etc.) and the relative abundances of some elements (C, N, and O). The models account for the coupled effect of photoionization and shocks. Consistent model calculations of the line and continuum spectra show that, although the radiation from the stars dominates, an active galactic nucleus (AGN) is clearly present, with a radiation maximum in the Sgr A* region. The flux, si…
The supermassive black hole, Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*), at the centre of the Milky Way undergoes regular flaring activity which is thought to arise from the innermost region of the accretion flow. We performed the monitoring observations of the Galactic Centre to study the flux-density variations at 3mm using the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) between 2010 and 2014. We obtain the light curves of Sgr A* by subtracting the contributions from the extended emission around it, and the elevation and time dependent gains of the telescope. We perform structure function analysis and the Bayesia…
A solution to the paradox of youth in the Galactic centre
Universidade de Coimbra（科英布拉大学）；Universidade do Porto（波尔图大学）；Universidade de Lisboa（里斯本大学）；Observatoire de Paris, Université PSL, Sorbonne Université（巴黎天文台，巴黎文理研究大学，索邦大学）；University of Amsterdam（阿姆斯特丹大学）
We have imaged 24 spectral lines in the Central Molecular Zone (CMZ) around the Galactic Centre, in the range 42 to 50 GHz. The lines include emission from the CS, CH3OH, HC3N, SiO, HNCO, HOCO+, NH2CHO, OCS, HCS+, CCS, C34S, 13CS, 29SiO, H13CCCN, HCC13CN and HC5}N molecules, and three hydrogen recombination lines. The area covered is Galactic longitude -0.7 to 1.8 deg. and latitude -0.3 to 0.2 deg., including the bright cores around Sgr A, SgrB2, SgrC and G1.6-0.025. This work used the 22-m Mopra radio telescope in Australia, obtaining ~ 1.8 km/s spectral and ~ 65 arcsec spatial resolution. We…
We recently proposed that the star-forming potential of dense molecular clouds in the Central Molecular Zone (CMZ, i.e. the central few 100 pc) of the Milky Way is linked to their orbital dynamics, potentially giving rise to an absolute-time sequence of star-forming clouds. In this paper, we present an orbital model for the gas stream(s) observed in the CMZ. The model is obtained by integrating orbits in the observed gravitational potential and represents a good fit to the distribution of dense gas, reproducing all of its key properties. The orbit is also consistent with observational constrai…
We have extended our earlier study (Heard & Warwick 2013, Paper I) of the X-ray emission emanating from the central 100 pc x 100 pc region of our Galaxy to an investigation of several features prominent in the soft X-ray (2-4.5 keV) band. We focus on three specific structures: a putative bipolar outflow from the vicinity of Sgr A*; a high surface brightness region located roughly 12 arcmin to the north-east of Sgr A*; and a lower surface-brightness extended loop feature seen to the south of Sgr A*. We show that all three structures are thermal in nature and have similar temperatures (kT ~ 1 ke…
The spectra emitted from clouds near the Galactic Centre are investigated calculating the UV-optical-IR lines using the physical parameters and the element abundances constrained by the fit of mid-IR observations. The characteristic line ratios are compared with those observed in active galaxies. We have found that the physical conditions in the nebulae near the GC are different from those of starburst galaxies and AGN, namely, gas velocities and densities as well as the photoionization fluxes are relatively low. The geometrical thickness of the emitting nebulae is particularly small suggestin…
We study the dynamical evolution of stars and gas close to the centre of the Milky Way. Any plausible means of forming the young stars observed at the Galactic Centre leaves behind a residual gas disc at ~0.01pc radii. We show that the combined effects of viscous accretion and gravitational interactions with stars do not remove the residual gas efficiently, and that a substantial gas disc, interior to the stellar disc, persists for >10Myr after the stars form. Since no such disc is currently seen at the Galactic Centre we argue that it has been accreted by the super-massive black hole. This sc…
A supermassive black hole SgrA* with the mass ~4x10^6 Msun resides at the centre of our galaxy. Building up such a massive black hole within the ~10^10 year lifetime of our galaxy would require a mean accretion rate of ~4x10^-4 Msun/yr. At present, X-ray observations constrain the rate of hot gas accretion at the Bondi radius (10^5 R_Sch = 0.04 pc at 8kpc) to \dot{M}_Bondi ~ 3x10^-6 Msun/yr, and polarization measurements constrain it near the event horizon to \dot{M}_horizon ~ 10^{-8} Msun/yr. A range of models was developed to describe the accretion gas onto an underfed black hole. However, t…
By solving radiative transfer equations, we examine three-dimensional radiative properties of a magnetohydrodynamic accretion flow model confronting with the observed spectrum of Sgr A*, in the vicinity of supermassive black hole at the Galactic centre. As a result, we find that the core of radio emission is larger than the size of the event horizon shadow and its peak location is shifted from the gravitational centre. We also find that the self-absorbed synchrotron emissions by the superposition of thermal electrons within a few tens of the Schwartzschild radius can account for low-frequency …
The innermost parsec around Sgr A* has been found to play host to two discs or streamers of O and W-R stars. They are misaligned by an angle approaching 90 degrees. That the stars are approximately coeval indicates that they formed in the same event rather than independently. We have performed SPH simulations of the infall of a single prolate cloud towards a massive black hole. As the cloud is disrupted, the large spread in angular momentum can, if conditions allow, lead to the creation of misaligned gas discs. In turn, stars may form within those discs. We are now investigating the origins of…
In this contribution, we summarize our results concerning the observational constraints on the electric charge associated with the Galactic centre black hole - Sgr A*. According to the no-hair theorem, every astrophysical black hole, including supermassive black holes, is characterized by at most three classical, externally observable parameters - mass, spin, and the electric charge. While the mass and the spin have routinely been measured by several methods, the electric charge has usually been neglected, based on the arguments of efficient discharge in astrophysical plasmas. From a theoretic…
We determine the spin of a supermassive black hole in the context of discseismology by comparing newly detected quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) of radio emission in the Galactic centre, Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*), as well as infrared and X-ray emissions with those of the Galactic black holes. We find that the spin parameters of black holes in Sgr A* and in Galactic X-ray sources have a unique value of $\approx 0.44$ which is smaller than the generally accepted value for supermassive black holes, suggesting evidence for the angular momentum extraction of black holes during the growth of superma…
The enhanced star formation in the inner 100 pc of the Galaxy launches a superwind at ~1600 km s$^{-1}$ for M82-like parameters. The ram pressure of the wind is very low compared to more powerful starburst winds. I show that halo gas stops the wind a few kpc from the Galactic Centre. I suggest that the termination shock accelerates cosmic rays, and that the resulting Inverse Compton gamma rays are visible as the Fermi Bubbles. The Bubbles are then wind bubbles, which the starburst can inflate within 10 Myr. They can remain in steady state as long as the starburst lasts. The shock may accelerat…
The disruption of a binary star by a massive black hole (MBH) typically leads to the capture of one component around the MBH and the ejection of its companion at a high velocity, possibly producing a hypervelocity star. The high fraction of observed triples ($\sim10$% for F/G/K stars and $\sim50$% for OB stars) give rise to the possibility of the disruption of triples by a MBH. Here we study this scenario, and use direct $N$-body integrations to follow the orbits of thousands of triples, during and following their disruption by a MBH (of $4\times10^6$ M$_\odot$, similar to the MBH existing in …
The Galactic centre - as the closest galactic nucleus - holds both intrinsic interest and possibly represents a useful analogue to star-burst nuclei which we can observe with orders of magnitude finer detail than these external systems. The environmental conditions in the GC - here taken to mean the inner 200 pc in diameter of the Milky Way - are extreme with respect to those typically encountered in the Galactic disk. The energy densities of the various GC ISM components are typically ~two orders of magnitude larger than those found locally and the star-formation rate density ~three orders of…
The S stars near the Galactic centre and any pulsars that may be on similar orbits, can be modelled in a unified way as clocks orbiting a black hole, and hence are potential probes of relativistic effects, including black hole spin. The high eccentricities of many S stars mean that relativistic effects peak strongly around pericentre; for example, orbit precession is not a smooth effect but almost a kick at pericentre. We argue that concentration around pericentre will be an advantage when analysing redshift or pulse-arrival data to measure relativistic effects, because cumulative precession w…
A spectroscopic map of the Galactic centre: Integrated light and dynamical modelling
University of Vienna（维也纳大学）；SDB Science-driven Business Ltd.（SDB科学驱动商业有限公司）；Instituto de Astrofísica e Ciências do Espaço, Universidade de Lisboa（里斯本大学空间与天体物理研究所）
利用DYNAMITE代码对银河系中心内~3 pc x 66 pc区域的恒星视线运动学进行三轴轨道动力学建模，成功恢复Sgr A*质量并约束质量分布和轨道分布。
The flaring drill in the Galactic centre. Did the IRS 13 cluster carve out the mini-cavity in the mini-spiral?
Charles University（查理大学）；Helmholtz-Institut für Strahlen- und Kernphysik, University of Bonn（波恩大学亥姆霍兹辐射与核物理研究所）；Universität zu Köln（科隆大学）；University of California（加州大学）
A widely supported formation scenario for the Galactic disc is that it formed inside-out from material accumulated via accretion events. The Sagittarius dwarf spheroidal galaxy (Sgr dSph) is the best example of a such accretion, and its ongoing disruption has resulted in that its stars are being deposited in the Milky Way halo and outer disc. It is therefore appealing to search for possible signatures of the Sgr dSph contribution to the build-up of the Galactic disc. Interestingly, models of the Sgr dSph stream indicate clearly that the trailing tail passes through the outer Galactic disc, at …
The Circumnuclear Disk (CND) is a torus of dust and molecular gas rotating about the galactic centre and extending from approximately 1.6pc to 7pc from the central massive black hole, SgrA*. Large Velocity Gradient modelling of the intensities of the HCN 1-0, 3-2 and 4-3 transitions is used to infer hydrogen density and HCN optical depth. From HCN observations we find the molecular hydrogen density ranges from 0.1 to 2 $\times$ 10$^{6}$ cm$^{-3}$, about an order of magnitude less than inferred previously. The 1-0 line is weakly inverted with line-centre optical depth approx $-$0.1, in stark co…
The Milky Way Galaxy hosts a four million solar mass black hole, Sgr A*, that underwent a major accretion episode approximately 3-6 Myr ago. During the episode, hundreds of young massive stars formed in a disc orbiting Sgr A* in the central half parsec. The recent discovery of a hypervelocity star S5-HVS1, ejected by Sgr A* five Myr ago with a velocity vector consistent with the disc, suggests that this event also produced binary star disruptions. The initial stellar disc has to be rather eccentric for this to occur. Such eccentric disks can form from the tidal disruptions of molecular clouds.…
We have modelled the line ratios and the continuum spectral energy distribution (SED) of the short gamma-ray burst GRB100628A host galaxy complex. The results suggest that an active galactic nucleus (AGN) and a star-burst (SB) coexist in Nicuesa Guelbenzu et al.'s 'galaxy C'. The AGN spectrum is explained by a relatively strong flux. Two of the observed regions (blobs) are located in the ISM, outside the AGN photoionization cones. The strongest Hb line flux calculated by a SB dominated model was found in the tidal tail of galaxy C, while the strongest Hb line flux calculated by an AGN dominate…
