A polarised infrared flare from Sagittarius A* and the signatures of orbiting plasma hotspots

Details A polarised infrared flare from Sagittarius A* and the signatures of orbiting plasma hotspots A polarised infrared flare from Sagittarius A* and the signatures of orbiting plasma hotspots

2006-11-23

arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0611737v1

Mon.Not.Roy.Astron.Soc.375:764-772,2007

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

9 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

Scientific paper

10.1111/j.1365-2966.2006.11338.x

In this article we summarise and discuss the infrared, radio, and X-ray emission from the supermassive black hole in the Galactic Centre, SgrA*. We include new results from near-infrared polarimetric imaging observations obtained on May 31st, 2006. In that night, a strong flare in Ks band (2.08 microns) reaching top fluxes of ~16 mJy could be observed. This flare was highly polarised (up to ~40%) and showed clear sub-structure on a time scale of 15 minutes, including a swing in the polarisation angle of about 70 degrees. For the first time we were able to observe both polarised flux and short-time variability, with high significance in the same flare event. This result adds decisive information to the puzzle of the SgrA* activity. The observed polarisation angle during the flare peak is the same as observed in two events in 2004 and 2005. Our observations strongly support the dynamical emission model of a decaying plasma hotspot orbiting SgrA* on a relativistic orbit. The observed polarisation parameters and their variability with time might allow to constrain the orientation of accretion disc and spin axis with respect to the Galaxy.

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