Falcke, H.: The Jet Model for Sgr A*

The Jet Model for Sgr A*

Falcke H.1,2

1Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie, Auf dem Hügel 69, D-53121 Bonn, Germany (hfalcke@mpifr-bonn.mpg.de)
2Steward Observatory, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721

to appear in: "The Central Parsecs of the Galaxy", eds. H. Falcke, A. Cotera, W. Duschl, F. Melia, M. Rieke, ASP Conf. Series


Abstract:

In this paper the jet model for the supermassive black hole candidate Sgr A* in the Center of the Galaxy is reviewed. The most recent model, with a reduced set of parameters, is able to account for all major radio properties of the source: size, structure, flux density, and spectrum. The model requires a minimum jet power of ~1039 erg/sec and in a symbiotic jet/disk system implies a minimum accretion rate of a few times 10-8 Mo/yr for a radio loud jet or 10-5 Mo/yr for a radio quiet jet. Low near-infrared limits on the Sgr A* flux then imply that the accretion flow onto the central black hole must be radiatively deficient, but most likely has a high viscosity. Within the jet model the high-frequency part of the Sgr A* spectrum is self-consistently explained as the nozzle of the outflow. In a symbiotic model this innermost region of the jet could possibly be identified with the innermost region of an advection dominated accretion disk, a Bondi-Hoyle accretion flow, or any other type of underluminous accretion process. The compact nozzle region is of particular importance since it can be used as a background photon source against which the central black hole could be directly imaged with future mm-VLBI experiments.


Paper: Available in full length as PostScript and LaTex Format.

Other publications can be found here.

Questions: Heino Falcke, hfalcke@mpifr-bonn.mpg.de