Probing the Remarkable Neighborhood of the Galactic Center's Supermassive Black Hole with Diffraction-Limited Studies of Stars, Dark Matter, and Accreting Gas

University Of California-Los Angeles, Los Angeles CA

Investigators

Abstract

Probing the Remarkable Neighborhood of the Galactic Center's Supermassive Black Hole with Diffraction-Limited Studies of Stars, Dark Matter, and Accreting Gas ABSTRACT AST 0406816 Ghez Dr. Andrea Ghez at the University of California, Los Angeles will undertake a continuing program of high-resolution studies of the center of our Galaxy. There are four primary goals to the work: 1) to use short-period orbits of stars near the Galactic center black hole, to determine an accurate value of the Sun-Galactic center distance by the end of the proposed study; 2) to investigate how massive young stars can be present in the central region of the Galaxy, where strong tidal forces should counteract gravitational collapse that leads to star formation; 3) to use stellar orbits to derive a limit to changes the precession of stellar orbits, which could be due to an extended dark mass distribution; and 4) to characterize the innermost portions of the accretion flow onto the black hole. The proposed research will be done with the Keck telescopes, using a combination of diffraction-limited imaging from 1-20 microns as well as near-infrared spectroscopy. Work on the Galaxy's central black has generated wide coverage, and it is a resource for education and outreach. Specific efforts associated with this program will include 1) the creation of material for introductory courses through textbooks and the internet; 2) documentaries; 3) talks for the general public; and 4) research opportunities for high school, undergraduate, and graduate students. Probing the Remarkable Neighborhood of the Galactic Center's Supermassive Black Hole with Diffraction-Limited Studies of Stars, Dark Matter, and Accreting Gas