Galactic center compact nonthermal radio source

Conference · Wed Apr 15 04:00:00 EDT 1987 · AIP Conf. Proc.; (United States)

OSTI ID:7149877

Lo, K Y

The current observational status of Sgr A*, the compact nonthermal radio source at the galactic center, is reviewed. It is a unique radio source at a unique position of the Galaxy. It is unlike any compact radio sources associated with known stellar objects, but it is similar to extragalactic nuclear compact radio sources. The positional offset between Sgr A* and IRS16 places little constraint on the nature of the underlying energy source, since the nature of IRS16 itself is not well understood and may not be the core of the central star cluster. With its unique properties in the Galaxy and being the only unsual object at the center with dimensions approaching the gravitational radius of a approx.10/sup 6/ M/sub sun/ black-hole, Sgr A* is still the best candidate for marking the location of a massive collapsed object.

• Research Organization: Astronomy Department, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and California Institute of Technology
• OSTI ID: 7149877
• Report Number(s): CONF-8610211-
• Conference Information: Journal Name: AIP Conf. Proc.; (United States) Journal Volume: 155:1
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

640102 -- Astrophysics & Cosmology-- Stars & Quasi-Stellar
Radio & X-Ray Sources
640105* -- Astrophysics & Cosmology-- Galaxies
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
BLACK HOLES
COSMIC RADIO SOURCES
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
GALAXIES
GALAXY NUCLEI
INFRARED RADIATION
MILKY WAY
RADIATIONS
RADIOWAVE RADIATION