Physics – Optics
Scientific paper
Jul 2006
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2006hst..prop10859y&link_type=abstract
HST Proposal ID #10859. Cycle 15
Physics
Optics
Scientific paper
Correlated X-ray and near-IR flare emission from Sgr A*, the closest supermassive black hole, contains information about the hydrodynamics, energetics, and accretion behavior of matter within the innermost ten Schwarzschild radii of the hole. We propose HST/NICMOS observations of near-IR flares, in conjunction with already approved obsrevations using XMM-Newton 214 ksec and CSO 3 nights, which can make the precise, new measurements necessary to understand the radiation mechanism and low luminosity of Sgr A*. HST/NICMOS is required due to its very low and stable background, and its stable, tightly focused PSF, which allow accurate measurement of fainter flares than can be observed using groundbased adaptive optics systems. We will measure the spectral index distribution, the time-averaged flux and duration of flares, and the statistics of flare activity, and will confirm previously reported quasi-periodic variability. These measurements will have far-reaching implications for testing the inverse Compton scattering ICS and synchrotron models of low-luminosity flares, for understanding the process of accretion onto and outflow from supermassive black holes, and for constraining the acceleration mechanism of flares and the inferred black hole spin. This knowledge, in turn, will help us understand more generally low-luminosity AGN and X-ray binaries in a very low/quiescent accretion state.
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