Kinematic and structural analysis of the Minispiral in the Galactic Center from BEAR spectro-imagery

Eckart

2009

A&A

174

339

Context. The GC is the closest galactic nucleus, offering the unique possibility of studying the population of a dense stellar cluster surrounding an SMBH. Aims. The goals of this work are to develop a new method of separating early and late type stellar components of a dense stellar cluster based on narrow band filters, applying it to the central parsec of the GC, and conducting a population analysis of this area. Methods. We use AO assisted observations obtained at the ESO VLT in the NIR H-band and 7 intermediate bands covering the NIR K-band. A comparison of the resulting SEDs with a blackbody of variable extinction then allows us to determine the presence and strength of a CO absorption feature to distinguish between early and late type stars.Results. This new method is suitable for classifying K giants (and later), as well as B2 main sequence (and earlier) stars that are brighter than 15.5 mag in the K band in the central parsec. Compared to previous spectroscopic investigations that are limited to 13-14 mag, this represents a major improvement in the depth of the observations and reduces the needed observation time. Extremely red objects and foreground sources can also be reliably removed from the sample. Comparison to sources of known classification indicates that the method has an accuracy of better than ∼87%. We classify 312 stars as early type candidates out of a sample of 5914 sources. Several results, such as the shape of the KLF and the spatial distribution of both early and late type stars, confirm and extend previous works. The distribution of the early type stars can be fitted with a steep power law (β 1 = −1.49 ± 0.12), alternatively with a broken power law, β 1−10 = −1.08 ± 0.12, β 10−20 = −3.46 ± 0.58, since we find a drop in the early type density at ∼10 . We also detect early type candidates outside of 0.5 pc in significant numbers for the first time. The late type density function shows an inversion in the inner 6 , with a power-law slope of β R<6 = 0.17 ± 0.09. The late type KLF has a power-law slope of 0.30 ± 0.01, closely resembling the KLF obtained for the bulge of the Milky Way. The early type KLF has a much flatter slope of (0.14 ± 0.02). Our results agree best with an in-situ star formation scenario.

Section: Co Band Depth As a Classification Featurementioning

confidence: 99%

Composition of the galactic center star cluster

Buchholz

Eckart

2009

A&A

174

339

“…No direct measurements of the projected velocities of the local medium are available in this region (IRS 2 lies outside of the region where velocities were mapped by Paumard et al 2004). These sources lie between the regions for which Zhao et al (2009) determined local gas velocities.…”

Section: Irsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ks- andLp-band polarimetry on stellar and bow-shock sources in the Galactic center

Witzel

Eckart

2013

A&A

Context. Infrared observations of the Galactic center (GC) provide a unique opportunity to study stellar and bow-shock polarization effects in a dusty environment. Aims. The goals of this work are to present new Ks-and Lp-band polarimetry on an unprecedented number of sources in the central parsec of the GC, thereby expanding our previous results in the H-and Ks-bands. Methods. We use AO-assisted Ks-and Lp-band observations, obtained at the ESO VLT. High precision photometry and the new polarimetric calibration method for NACO allow us to map the polarization in a region of 8 × 25 (Ks) resp. 26 × 28 (Lp). These are the first polarimetric observations of the GC in the Lp-band in 30 years, with vastly improved spatial resolution compared to previous results. This allows resolved polarimetry on bright bow-shock sources in this area for the first time at this wavelength. Results. We find foreground polarization to be largely parallel to the Galactic plane (Ks-band: 6.1% at 20 • , Lp-band: 4.5% at 20 • ), in good agreement with our previous findings and with older results. The previously described Lp-band excess in the foregound polarization towards the GC could be confirmed here for a much larger number of sources. The bow-shock sources contained in the FOV seem to show a different relation between the polarization in the observed wavelength bands than what was determined for the foreground. This points to the different relevant polarization mechanisms. The resolved polarization patterns of IRS 5 and 10W match the findings we presented earlier for IRS 1W. Additionally, intrinsic Lp-band polarization was measured for IRS 1W and 21, as well as for other, less prominent mid-infrared-excess sources (IRS 2S, 2L, 5NE). The new data offer support for the presumed bow-shock nature of several of these sources (1W, 5, 5NE, 10W, 21) and for the model of bow-shock polarization presented in our last work.

“…The brightest features of the minispiral are the Northern Arm (NA), Eastern Arm (EA), Bar, and Western Arc (WA, e.g. Paumard et al 2004;Zhao et al 2009;Lau et al 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

KMOS view of the Galactic centre

Feldmeier-Krause

Neumayer

et al. 2015

A&A

106

Context. The Galactic centre hosts a crowded, dense nuclear star cluster with a half-light radius of 4 pc. Most of the stars in the Galactic centre are cool late-type stars, but there are also > ∼ 100 hot early-type stars in the central parsec of the Milky Way. These stars are only 3−8 Myr old. Aims. Our knowledge of the number and distribution of early-type stars in the Galactic centre is incomplete. Only a few spectroscopic observations have been made beyond a projected distance of 0.5 pc of the Galactic centre. The distribution and kinematics of earlytype stars are essential to understand the formation and growth of the nuclear star cluster. Methods. We cover the central >4 pc 2 (0.75 sq. arcmin) of the Galactic centre using the integral-field spectrograph KMOS (VLT). We extracted more than 1000 spectra from individual stars and identified early-type stars based on their spectra. Results. Our data set contains 114 bright early-type stars: 6 have narrow emission lines, 23 are Wolf-Rayet stars, 9 stars have featureless spectra, and 76 are O/B type stars. Our wide-field spectroscopic data confirm that the distribution of young stars is compact, with 90% of the young stars identified within 0.5 pc of the nucleus. We identify 24 new O/B stars primarily at large radii. We estimate photometric masses of the O/B stars and show that the total mass in the young population is > ∼ 12 000 M . The O/B stars all appear to be bound to the Milky Way nuclear star cluster, while less than 30% belong to the clockwise rotating disk. We add one new star to the sample of stars affiliated with this disk. Conclusions. The central concentration of the early-type stars is a strong argument that they have formed in situ. An alternative scenario, in which the stars formed outside the Galactic centre in a cluster that migrated to the centre, is refuted. A large part of the young O/B stars is not on the disk, which either means that the early-type stars did not all form on the same disk or that the disk is dissolving rapidly.