A 3 pc Scale Jet-driven Outflow from Sgr A*
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Author/Creator ORCID
Date
2012-09-21
Type of Work
Department
Program
Citation of Original Publication
Yusef-Zadeh, F., “A 3 pc Scale Jet-driven Outflow from Sgr A*”, The Astrophysical Journal Letters, vol. 758, no. 1, 2012. doi:10.1088/2041-8205/758/1/L11.
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Subjects
Abstract
The compact radio source Sgr A* is coincident with a 4 × 106 M☉ black hole at the dynamical center of the Galaxy and is surrounded by dense orbiting ionized and molecular gas. We present high-resolution radio continuum images of the central 3' and report a faint continuous linear structure centered on Sgr A* with a P.A. ∼ 60°. The extension of this feature appears to be terminated symmetrically by two linearly polarized structures at 8.4 GHz, ∼75'' from Sgr A*. A number of weak blobs of radio emission with X-ray counterparts are detected along the axis of the linear structure. The linear structure is best characterized by a mildly relativistic jet from Sgr A* with an outflow rate 10−6 M☉ yr−1. The near and far sides of the jet are interacting with orbiting ionized and molecular gas over the last 1–3 hundred years and are responsible for a 2'' hole, the "minicavity," characterized by disturbed kinematics, enhanced Fe ii/iii line emission, and diffuse X-ray gas. The estimated kinetic luminosity of the outflow is ∼1.2 × 1041 erg s−1, so the interaction with the bar may be responsible for the Galactic center X-ray flash inferred to be responsible for much of the fluorescent Fe Kα line emission from the inner 100 pc of the Galaxy.