THE PROPER MOTION OF THE GALACTIC CENTER PULSAR RELATIVE TO SAGITTARIUS A*
- Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, 645 N. A'ohoku Place, Hilo, HI 96720 (United States)
- ASTRON, PO Box 2, 7990 AA Dwingeloo (Netherlands)
- NRAO, 520 Edgemont Road, Charlottesville, VA 22903-2475 (United States)
- Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie, Auf dem Hügel 69, D-53121 Bonn (Germany)
- Department of Astrophysics, Institute for Mathematics, Astrophysics and Particle Physics (IMAPP), Radboud University, PO Box 9010, 6500 GL Nijmegen (Netherlands)
- JILA, University of Colorado and NIST, 440 UCB, Boulder, CO 80309-0440 (United States)
- Department of Physics, Astrophysics, University of Oxford, Keble Road, Oxford OX1 3RH (United Kingdom)
- MIT Haystack Observatory, Route 40, Westford, MA 01886 (United States)
We measure the proper motion of the pulsar PSR J1745-2900 relative to the Galactic center massive black hole, Sgr A*, using the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA). The pulsar has a transverse velocity of 236 ± 11 km s{sup –1} at position angle 22 ± 2 deg east of north at a projected separation of 0.097 pc from Sgr A*. Given the unknown radial velocity, this transverse velocity measurement does not conclusively prove that the pulsar is bound to Sgr A*; however, the probability of chance alignment is very small. We do show that the velocity and position are consistent with a bound orbit originating in the clockwise disk of massive stars orbiting Sgr A* and a natal velocity kick of ≲ 500 km s{sup –1}. An origin among the isotropic stellar cluster is possible but less probable. If the pulsar remains radio-bright, multiyear astrometry of PSR J1745-2900 can detect its acceleration and determine the full three-dimensional orbit. We also demonstrate that PSR J1745-2900 exhibits the same angular broadening as Sgr A* over a wavelength range of 3.6 cm to 0.7 cm, further confirming that the two sources share the same interstellar scattering properties. Finally, we place the first limits on the presence of a wavelength-dependent shift in the position of Sgr A*, i.e., the core shift, one of the expected properties of optically thick jet emission. Our results for PSR J1745-2900 support the hypothesis that Galactic center pulsars will originate from the stellar disk and deepen the mystery regarding the small number of detected Galactic center pulsars.
- OSTI ID:
- 22364602
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 798, Issue 2; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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