A Coordinated NICMOS and XMM Experiment to Observe the Variability of Sgr A*

Details A Coordinated NICMOS and XMM Experiment to Observe the Variability of Sgr A* A Coordinated NICMOS and XMM Experiment to Observe the Variability of Sgr A*

Jul 2004

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2004hst..prop10179y&link_type=abstract

HST Proposal ID #10179

Physics

Hst Proposal Id #10179 Galaxies

Scientific paper

The massive black hole Sgr A* at the Galactic center has recently shown not only quiescent emission at near-IR wavelengths, but also flare activity with quasi-periodicity of 17 minutes. Our research group has been granted two blocks of observing time with XMM-Newton to monitor the spectral and temporal properties of Sgr A*. Simultaneously with these X-ray observations, we will also monitor Sgr A* at radio, submillimeter, near-IR, and gamma-ray wavelengths. We propose to use NICMOS in parallel with the XMM observations to provide evidence of a well-defined minimum periodicity in the spectrum of flare periodicities. This, combined with periodicity in the near-IR line emission, would strengthen the claim that the emitting gas resides at the innermost stable circular orbit around the GC black hole, thus measuring the spin parameter of a massive black hole. Current groundbased near-IR data suggest a spin parameter of ~0.5. In addition, the correlation pattern of emission over a wide spectrum would elucidate a key issue of how to explain the low luminosity of Sgr A*. The NICMOS on HST is the only instrument that can accurately measure the 17 minute quasi-periodic variability of Sgr A* because of the long time baseline over which HST can observe Sgr A* in parallel with XMM-Newton.

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