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WE ARE PROPOSING FOR DATA ANALYSIS SUPPORT FOR OUR APPROVED PRIORITY 1 SPITZER CYCLE 12 AND CYCLE 13 GO PROGRAMS TO OBSERVE THE INFRARED AND X-RAY VARIABILITY OF SGR A* THE SUPERMASSIVE BLACK HOLE (SMBH) AT THE GALACTIC CENTER. THE GALACTIC CENTER OFFERS THE CLOSEST OPPORTUNITY FOR STUDYING ACCRETION ONTO SMBHS. THE FLUCTUATING SOURCE SGR A* ORIGINATES IN THE ACCRETION FLOW OR JET AND IS DETECTED ACROSS THE ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM. RECENT GENERAL RELATIVISTIC MAGNETO-HYDRODYNAMIC (GRMHD) MODELS INDICATE THAT VARIABILITY CAN BE PRODUCED BY A TILTED INNER DISK GRAVITATIONAL LENSING OF BRIGHT SPOTS IN THE DISK BY THE HOLE OR PARTICLE ACCELERATION IN RECONNECTION EVENTS. THESE MODELS PRODUCE DIFFERENT FLARE CHARACTERISTICS AND STUDYING FLARES AT MULTIPLE WAVELENGTHS MAY ENABLE US TO DISTINGUISH BETWEEN STRONG AND WEAKLY MAGNETIZED DISKS. DISENTANGLING THE POWER SOURCE AND EMISSION MECHANISMS OF THE FLARES IS A CENTRAL CHALLENGE TO OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE SGR A* ACCRETION FLOW. IN CYCLE 13 WE WERE AWARDED TWO 24-HOUR SPITZER/CHANDRA PERIODS TO BE OBSERVED IN JULY 2017 SO WE WILL HAVE A TOTAL OF 96 HOURS COMBINED SPITZER+CHANDRA COVERAGE. WE ALSO HAVE NUSTAR (3-79 KEV) SMA/ALMA/APEX (0.8 MM) AND KECK/MAGELLAN NIR (2.2 MICRON) OBSERVATIONS DURING PARTS OF THE EPOCHS. ONLY SUCH LONG-DURATION CONTINUOUS MULTI-WAVELENGTH OBSERVATIONS CAN ACHIEVE A COMPREHENSIVE VIEW OF THE DOMINANT EMISSION PROCESS(ES) AND QUANTIFY THE PHYSICAL PROPERTIES NEAR THE EVENT HORIZON. THEORETICAL MODELS ARE INCREASING IN PHYSICAL SOPHISTICATION AND OUR STUDY WILL PROVIDE ESSENTIAL CONSTRAINTS FOR THE NEXT GENERATION OF MODELS.

$469,902FY2020National Aeronautics and Space AdministrationNASA

Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC

Investigators

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