Keck AO Observations of the Central 5 pc of M31

Physics – Optics

Scientific paper

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Scientific paper

Abstract

The neighboring Andromeda galaxy (M31) harbors both a supermassive black hole and an apparent 200 Myr starburst cluster within the central parsec. Since the nucleus of M31 has relatively little molecular gas, the source of gas for this recent star formation event has not yet been determined. One proposed solution is that an eccentric disk of old stars, observed to extend a few parsecs from the black hole, is both the source of the molecular gas and the means for transporting the gas inward. We present results from new Keck adaptive optics spatially resolved spectroscopy of the entire eccentric disk and central parsec. We have mapped the 2D kinematics in this region in order to measure the dynamical structure of the eccentric disk and determine if it is precessing slowly enough for gas on self-intersecting orbits to shock, cool, and plunge into the central parsec to fuel future starbursts or black hole accretion.

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