A Thermal Detection of Sgr A* ?
Abstract
We present the first NACO thermal infrared observations of the Galactic Center. L'-band imaging has been performed during NACO Science Verification nights in 2002. During these observations, the separation between S2, the closest star to Sgr A*, and the black hole was too small to directly see a counterpart of the latter. However we have detected a thermal infrared excess that could be its signature. In addition, the Northern Arm, a gaseous structure revealed with unprecedented details, is found to be made of intersecting and nested arclets, which doesn't match with the previous interpretations of a stream of matter orbiting around the central black hole. The 2003 observations in the L'- and M'-bands have revealed an unambiguous emission from Sgr A*. The discovery of very red sources aligned with this counterpart may be the signature of a jet coming from the black hole.
- Publication:
-
Science with Adaptive Optics
- Pub Date:
- January 2005
- DOI:
- 10.1007/10828557_50
- Bibcode:
- 2005sao..conf..286C