It is the most accurate simulation to date of the monster that dwells at the heart of the Milky Way: Sagittarius A*.
This is a fabulous scientific achievement. Based on years of observations from around the world, a large team of more than a hundred institutions has achieved, from the assembly of the image of the black hole around which our galaxy revolves , the most realistic simulation of Sagittarius A*.
For the first time, researchers have shown in a single model the full story of how the gas at the center of the Milky Way travels, from when it is ejected by stars until it falls into the black hole. Reading between the proverbial lines (or flickering light), the team concluded that the most likely picture of a black hole feeding at the galactic center involves direct infalling gas from great distances, rather than slow deflection of orbiting material. for a long period of time.
“Black holes are the keepers of their own secrets. To better understand these mysterious objects, we rely on direct observation and high-resolution modeling,” explains Lena Murchikova from the Institute for Advanced Study who ran the simulation.
The combined experience of three researchers working on different properties of black holes has generated the most accurate model of Sagittarius A*; the flickering indicates that the black hole is lazily feeding on the gas around it.
“For a long time, we thought we could largely ignore where the gas around the black hole was coming from. Typical models imagine an artificial ring of gas, roughly doughnut-shaped, at a great distance from the black hole. We found that such models produce flicker patterns inconsistent with the observations ”, the experts comment.
Referencia:
Lena Murchikova, Christopher J. White, Sean M. Ressler. Remarkable Correspondence of the Sagittarius A* Submillimeter Variability with a Stellar-wind-fed Accretion Flow Model. The Astrophysical Journal Letters, 2022; 932 (2): L21 DOI: 10.3847/2041-8213/ac75c3
Lena Murchikova, Gunther Witzel. Second-scale Submillimeter Variability of Sagittarius A* during Flaring Activity of 2019: On the Origin of Bright Near-infrared Flares. The Astrophysical Journal Letters, 2021; 920 (1): L7 DOI: 10.3847/2041-8213/ac2308
Christopher J. White, Eliot Quataert. The Effects of Tilt on the Time Variability of Millimeter and Infrared Emission from Sagittarius A*. The Astrophysical Journal, 2022; 926 (2): 136 DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/ac423c
Sean M. Ressler, Christopher J. White, Eliot Quataert, James M. Stone. Ab Initio Horizon-scale Simulations of Magnetically Arrested Accretion in Sagittarius A* Fed by Stellar Winds. The Astrophysical Journal, 2020; 896 (1): L6 DOI: 10.3847/2041-8213/ab9532
