Implication of Spin Constraints by the Event Horizon Telescope on Stellar Orbits in the Galactic Center

Fragione, Giacomo and Loeb, Abraham (2022) Implication of Spin Constraints by the Event Horizon Telescope on Stellar Orbits in the Galactic Center. The Astrophysical Journal Letters, 932 (2). L17. ISSN 2041-8205

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Abstract

The center of the Milky Way hosts the closest supermassive black hole, Sgr A*. Decades of near-infrared observations of our Galactic Center have shown the presence of a small population of stars (the so-called S-star cluster) orbiting Sgr A*, which were recently reported to be arranged into two orthogonal disks. In this case, the timescale for the Lense–Thirring precession of S stars should be longer than their age, implying a low spin for Sgr A*. In contrast, the recent results by the Event Horizon Telescope favor a highly spinning Sgr A*, which seems to suggest that the S stars could not be arranged in disks. Alternatively, the spin of Sgr A* must be small, suggesting that the models for its observed image are incomplete.

Item Type: Article
Subjects: STM Open Press > Physics and Astronomy
Depositing User: Unnamed user with email support@stmopenpress.com
Date Deposited: 27 Apr 2023 06:18
Last Modified: 15 Oct 2024 10:21
URI: http://journal.submissionpages.com/id/eprint/1066

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