A Dynamical Model for Hot Gas in the Galactic Center
Abstract
Winds from massive stars supply ~10-3 Msolar yr-1 of gas to the central parsec of the Galactic center. I present spherically symmetric hydrodynamic simulations of the dynamics of this gas. These calculations show that a few percent of the gas, or ~few×10-5 Msolar yr-1, flows in toward the central massive black hole Sgr A*; the remaining gas, ~10-3 Msolar yr-1, is thermally driven out of the central star cluster in a wind. This dynamical model accounts for the level of diffuse X-ray emission observed in the central 10" of the Galactic center by Chandra and the extended X-ray source coincident with Sgr A*; the latter is a signature of gas being gravitationally captured by the black hole.
- Publication:
-
The Astrophysical Journal
- Pub Date:
- September 2004
- DOI:
- 10.1086/422973
- arXiv:
- arXiv:astro-ph/0310446
- Bibcode:
- 2004ApJ...613..322Q
- Keywords:
-
- Accretion;
- Accretion Disks;
- Galaxy: Center;
- Astrophysics
- E-Print:
- submitted to ApJ Letters