NICMOS Observations of the Galactic Center: Environment of a Black Hole

Details NICMOS Observations of the Galactic Center: Environment of a Black Hole NICMOS Observations of the Galactic Center: Environment of a Black Hole

Jul 2002

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2002hst..prop.9457r&link_type=abstract

HST Proposal ID #9457

Physics

Hst Proposal Id #9457

Scientific paper

Intensive observation of the Galactic Center in recent years has shown conclusively that the Milky Way is home to a 2.5*10^6Msun black hole. Infrared observations of the stellar population have revealed a bright, young stellar cluster nearly coincident with the Center. We still do not know how the black hole influences its surroundings beyond the stellar dynamics very close to the hole. We do not even know whether the Milky Way has a core similar that seen in massive bulges or has a mass distribution that follows a power-law right into the center. We propose to use NICMOS to measure the central surface brightness profile of the galaxy, and to measure proper motions over the critical volume where the transition from black hole-dominated gravitational field to stellar mass- dominated gravitational field occurs. The data collected to investigate these issues will also shed light on the main sequence associated with the young stellar cluster and whether it formed in situ or elsewhere in the galaxy.

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