Inward Bound: High Resolution AO Observations of the Galactic Center

Abstract

Because of its proximity the Center of the Milky Way is a unique laboratory for studying physical processes that are thought to occur generally in galactic nuclei. The central parsec of our Galaxy is known to contain a dense and luminous star cluster, as well as several components of neutral, ionized and extremely hot gas. For two decades, evidence has been mounting that the Galactic Center harbors a concentration of dark mass (3-4 million solar masses) associated with the compact radio source SgrA* (diameter about 10 light minutes), located at the center of the nuclear star cluster. SgrA* has long thought to be a supermassive black hole. High resolution observations offer the unique opportunities of stringently testing the black hole paradigm and of studying stars and gas in the immediate vicinity of a black hole, at a level of detail that will never be accessible in any other galactic nucleus.