A 3 pc Scale Jet-driven Outflow from Sgr A*
Abstract
The compact radio source Sgr A* is coincident with a 4 × 106 M ⊙ black hole at the dynamical center of the Galaxy and is surrounded by dense orbiting ionized and molecular gas. We present high-resolution radio continuum images of the central 3' and report a faint continuous linear structure centered on Sgr A* with a P.A. ~ 60°. The extension of this feature appears to be terminated symmetrically by two linearly polarized structures at 8.4 GHz, ~75'' from Sgr A*. A number of weak blobs of radio emission with X-ray counterparts are detected along the axis of the linear structure. The linear structure is best characterized by a mildly relativistic jet from Sgr A* with an outflow rate 10-6 M ⊙ yr-1. The near and far sides of the jet are interacting with orbiting ionized and molecular gas over the last 1-3 hundred years and are responsible for a 2'' hole, the "minicavity," characterized by disturbed kinematics, enhanced Fe II/III line emission, and diffuse X-ray gas. The estimated kinetic luminosity of the outflow is ~1.2 × 1041 erg s-1, so the interaction with the bar may be responsible for the Galactic center X-ray flash inferred to be responsible for much of the fluorescent Fe Kα line emission from the inner 100 pc of the Galaxy.
- Publication:
-
The Astrophysical Journal
- Pub Date:
- October 2012
- DOI:
- 10.1088/2041-8205/758/1/L11
- arXiv:
- arXiv:1208.1193
- Bibcode:
- 2012ApJ...758L..11Y
- Keywords:
-
- accretion;
- accretion disks;
- black hole physics;
- Galaxy: center;
- Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena;
- Astrophysics - Astrophysics of Galaxies
- E-Print:
- 11 pages, 4 figures, ApJL (in press)