THE BLACK HOLE AT THE CENTER OF THE MILKY WAY
by Andreas Eckart, Rainer Sch�del & Christian Straubmeier (University of Cologne, Germany)
Reviewing the fundamental instrumental techniques and current observational results, this book unveils the mysteries of the physical processes in the central parsec of our Milky Way: the super-massive black hole embedded in a central stellar cluster as well as the gas and dust in the circumnuclear region.
The observations described cover the entire electromagnetic spectrum from decimeter radio-waves to high energy X-ray and γ-rays, and a comprehensive summary of up-to-date astrophysical interpretations is given.
The emphasis is put on observational techniques, image processing aspects, and a detailed presentation of the most cutting-edge work carried out in the near-infrared wavelength regime. These recent results include both the first orbits of stars around the central black hole and the multiwavelength variability of the central source.
Contents:
- Observational Techniques:
- The GC Across the Electromagnetic Spectrum
- NIR Imaging Through the Atmosphere
- Speckle Imaging
- Single Telescope Adaptive Optics
- Cleaning and Deconvolution
- Future IR Interferometry
- Observational Results:
- The Discovery of Sagittarius A*
- Large-Scale Structures at the Galactic Center
- The Circum Nuclear Disk
- The Mini- Spiral
- Radio Filaments
- Near-Infrared Images of the Central Stellar Cluster
- The Radio and Infrared Positional Reference Frames
- Number Density Counts
- Polarization of Filaments and Stars
- Stellar Velocities and Orbital Accelerations
- Spectroscopy
- Star Formation at the Galactic Center?
- Sgr A* Across the Electromagnetic Spectrum
- Astrophysical Results:
- The Stellar Velocity Field
- Scenarios for Star Formation at the Galactic Center
- The Central Dark Mass
- Stability of the Enclosed Dark Mass
- Agglomerations of Exotic Particles?
- The Central Stellar Cusp
- Analysis of Stellar Orbits Near the Central Black Hole
- The Central Black Hole
- Comparison to Nuclei of Other Galaxies
- Massive Black Holes at High Redshifts
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Readership: Graduate and post-graduate students, researchers,
astronomers, and astrophysicists.