A star in a 15.2-year orbit around the supermassive black hole at the centre of the Milky Way

Schödel, R.; Ott, Thomas; Genzel, R.; Hofmann, R.; Lehnert, M. D.; Eckart, A.; Mouawad, N.; Alexander, Tal; Reid, M. J.; Lenzen, R.; Hartung, Markus; Lacombe, F.; Rouan, D.; Gendron, É.; Rousset, G.; Lagrange, Anne-Marie; Brandner, W.; Ageorges, N.; Lidman, C.; Moorwood, A. F. M.; Spyromilio, J.; Hubin, N.; Menten, K. M.

doi:10.1038/nature01121

Cited by 1,033 publications

(895 citation statements)

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“…Today, by far the strongest case for a supermassive black hole can be made for our own Galaxy. Modern high-resolution, infrared imaging reveals that the stars in the central-most regions of our Galaxy are orbiting an unseen mass of 2.6 × 10 6 M [ [14][15][16]. Furthermore, studies of the orbital dynamics (which now include measured accelerations as well as velocities; [17,18]) constrain the central mass to be extremely compact.…”

Section: Introduction : the Astrophysics Of Relativistic Compact Objectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fluorescent iron lines as a probe of astrophysical black hole systems

2003

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Section: Introduction : the Astrophysics Of Relativistic Compact Objectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fluorescent iron lines as a probe of astrophysical black hole systems

2003

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“…Moreover, this modelling allows very precise predictions for astronomical objects that orbit black holes, particularly the supermassive black hole at the centre of the MW galaxy. Indeed it is suggested that experiment, should be used to check these predictions regarding the galactic supermassive black hole, by observing close orbits around the supermassive, or indeed any ordinary black hole (Schodel et al 2002). The presence of supermassive black holes at the centre of other galaxies and clusters of galaxies and the respective advances in black hole physics also accounts for the observed galactic lensing phenomena (Cline 2003).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Importantly, accurate predictions of black hole physics have been made (Worsley 2011), which are readily testable, using established methods (Schodel et al 2002). The advanced black hole physics presented here, also has the advantage that it obviates the need for the formation of infinitely dense singularities.…”

Section: Advanced Black Hole Gravitational Physicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Advances in Black Hole Physics and Dark Matter Modelling of the Galactic Halo

Worsley¹

2012

APR

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One of the most important unresolved issues of modern physics is the presence of cold dark matter (CDM). Such dark matter appears to be essential in explaining the observed galactic rotation curves and the missing Cosmological dark matter. Recent attention has focused on galactic halos as an explanation of the galactic rotation curves, and on the possibility that galactic halos may consist of massive compact halo objects (MACHOs). Indeed results of experiment by the MACHO collaboration group have confirmed the presence of MACHOs in the galactic halo at statistically significant levels. What remains unclear is, what percentage of the galactic halo can be explained by such MACHOs, and what these MACHOs are likely to be composed of. Recent research shows the "most plausible" candidates for such MACHOs are being identified as primordial black holes. Such primordial black holes can also explain quasar brightness, spectral variations, and multiply lensed quasar systems. The presence of these primordial black holes in the galactic halo can be further modelled using advances in black hole gravitational physics. Indeed it has previously been shown that advances in black hole physics can be used to accurately model both CDM associated with the supermassive black hole at the centre of the galaxy, and Cosmological cold dark matter. To establish whether the same mechanism applies to primordial black holes in galactic halos, the original data from the MACHO project are reanalyzed using these advances in black hole physics. It is concluded that the majority of the CDM mass of the galactic halo can be accounted for by MACHOs by using a reanalysis of the data, and by applying advances in black hole gravitational physics. Importantly these advances in black hole physics offer further readily testable gravitational predictions.Keywords: Primordial black hole, Gravitation, Black hole physics, Galactic halo, Cold dark matter, Cosmology IntroductionThe presence of CDM remains to date one of the most important unsolved mysteries of modern Cosmology. It is particularly important not only to the understanding of the large scale structure of the Universe, but also in explaining the formation of galaxies. To date the search has concentrated on two main forms of CDM; weakly interactive massive particles (WIMPs), and massive compact halo objects (MACHOs) (Cline 2003). While the presence of WIMPs or some other form of exotic particle is still the favoured model, there has been a recent increase in the interest in MACHOs. Indeed research indicates that the statistical likely hood of MACHOs being present in the galactic halo is high (Alcock et al. 2000a).The question however, remains as to how prevalent these MACHOs are in the galactic halo, and what form do these MACHOs take? Interestingly, a recent comprehensive review suggests that the most "plausible" form these MACHO's take is that of primordial black holes (Hawkins 2011). In that review, a wide range of experimental evidence from quasar brightness, spectral variations, and multip...

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“…The most exciting result of these observations is the detection of individual Keplerian stellar orbits (Schödel et al 2002, Ghez et al 2005, Eisenhauer et al 2005, allowing to probe the gravitational potential in which the so-called S-stars move. The data are consistent with a point mass of 4 × 10 6 solar masses.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

15 years of high precision astrometry in the Galactic Center

et al. 2007

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Abstract. In 1992, we obtained the first observations of S2 a star close to the supermassive black hole at the Galactic Center. In 2002, S2 passed its periastron and in 2007, it completed a first fully observed revolution. This orbit allowed us to determine the mass of and the distance to the supermassive black hole with unprecedented accuracy. Here we present a re-analysis of the data set, enhancing the astrometric accuracy to 0.5 mas and increasing the number of welldetermined stellar orbits to roughly 15. This allows to constrain the extended mass distribution around the massive black hole and will lead in the near future to the detection of post-Newtonian effects. We will also give an outlook on the potential of interferometric near-infrared astrometry with 10 microarcsecond accuracy from the VLTI.

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A star in a 15.2-year orbit around the supermassive black hole at the centre of the Milky Way

Cited by 1,033 publications

References 22 publications

Fluorescent iron lines as a probe of astrophysical black hole systems

Fluorescent iron lines as a probe of astrophysical black hole systems

Advances in Black Hole Physics and Dark Matter Modelling of the Galactic Halo

15 years of high precision astrometry in the Galactic Center

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