An Upper Limit on the Spin of SgrA* Based on Stellar Orbits in Its Vicinity
Abstract
The spin of the massive black hole (BH) at the center of the Milky Way, SgrA*, has been poorly constrained so far. We place an upper limit on the spin of SgrA* based on the spatial distribution of the S-stars, which are arranged in two almost edge-on disks that are located at a position angle of approximately ±45° with respect to the Galactic plane, on a milliparsec scale around the Galactic center. Requiring that the frame-dragging precession has not had enough time to make the S-star orbital angular momentum precess, the spin of the massive BH at the center of the Milky Way can be constrained to χ ≲ 0.1.
- Publication:
-
The Astrophysical Journal
- Pub Date:
- October 2020
- DOI:
- 10.3847/2041-8213/abb9b4
- arXiv:
- arXiv:2008.11734
- Bibcode:
- 2020ApJ...901L..32F
- Keywords:
-
- Astrophysical black holes;
- black hole physics;
- Kerr black holes;
- Supermassive black holes;
- Galactic center;
- S stars;
- 98;
- 159;
- 886;
- 1663;
- 565;
- 1421;
- Astrophysics - Astrophysics of Galaxies;
- Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
- E-Print:
- 3 pages, 2 figures, accepted by ApJ Lett