Abstract
The region bounded by the inner tens of light-years at the center of the Milky Way Galaxy contains five principal components that coexist within the central deep well of gravitational potential. These constituents are a black hole candidate (Sgr A*) with a mass equivalent to 2.6 ± 0.2 × 106 solar masses, a surrounding cluster of evolved stars, a complex of young stars, molecular and ionized gas clouds, and a powerful supernova-like remnant. The interaction of these components is responsible for many of the phenomena occurring in this complex and unique portion of the Galaxy. Developing a consistent picture of the primary interactions between the components at the Galactic center will improve our understanding of the nature of galactic nuclei in general, and will provide us with a better-defined set of characteristics of black holes. For example, the accretion of stellar winds by Sgr A* appears to produce far less radiation than indicated by estimates based on models of galactic nuclei.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 85-91 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| Journal | Science |
| Volume | 287 |
| Issue number | 5450 |
| State | Published - Jan 7 2000 |
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Cite this
The galactic center : An interacting system of unusual sources. / Yusef-Zadeh, F.; Melia, Fulvio; Wardle, M.
In: Science, Vol. 287, No. 5450, 07.01.2000, p. 85-91.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - The galactic center
T2 - An interacting system of unusual sources
AU - Yusef-Zadeh, F.
AU - Melia, Fulvio
AU - Wardle, M.
PY - 2000/1/7
Y1 - 2000/1/7
N2 - The region bounded by the inner tens of light-years at the center of the Milky Way Galaxy contains five principal components that coexist within the central deep well of gravitational potential. These constituents are a black hole candidate (Sgr A*) with a mass equivalent to 2.6 ± 0.2 × 106 solar masses, a surrounding cluster of evolved stars, a complex of young stars, molecular and ionized gas clouds, and a powerful supernova-like remnant. The interaction of these components is responsible for many of the phenomena occurring in this complex and unique portion of the Galaxy. Developing a consistent picture of the primary interactions between the components at the Galactic center will improve our understanding of the nature of galactic nuclei in general, and will provide us with a better-defined set of characteristics of black holes. For example, the accretion of stellar winds by Sgr A* appears to produce far less radiation than indicated by estimates based on models of galactic nuclei.
AB - The region bounded by the inner tens of light-years at the center of the Milky Way Galaxy contains five principal components that coexist within the central deep well of gravitational potential. These constituents are a black hole candidate (Sgr A*) with a mass equivalent to 2.6 ± 0.2 × 106 solar masses, a surrounding cluster of evolved stars, a complex of young stars, molecular and ionized gas clouds, and a powerful supernova-like remnant. The interaction of these components is responsible for many of the phenomena occurring in this complex and unique portion of the Galaxy. Developing a consistent picture of the primary interactions between the components at the Galactic center will improve our understanding of the nature of galactic nuclei in general, and will provide us with a better-defined set of characteristics of black holes. For example, the accretion of stellar winds by Sgr A* appears to produce far less radiation than indicated by estimates based on models of galactic nuclei.
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UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=0034614707&partnerID=8YFLogxK
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0034614707
VL - 287
SP - 85
EP - 91
JO - Science
JF - Science
SN - 0036-8075
IS - 5450
ER -