How to hide large scale outflows: size constraints on the jets of Sgr A*

Sera Markoff1, Geoffrey C. Bower2 and Heino Falcke3


(1) Astronomical Institute ``Anton Pannekoek'', University of Amsterdam, Kruislaan 403, 1098SJ Amsterdam, the Netherlands,
(2) 601 Campbell Hall, Astronomy Department & Radio Astronomy Lab, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA,
(3) Department of Astrophysics, Radboud University, Postbus 9010, 6500GL Nijgmegen; ASTRON, Postbus 2, 7990AA Dwingeloo, the Netherlands

Paper: ApJ, submitted

EPrint Server: astro-ph/0702637


Abstract:

Despite significant strides made towards understanding accretion, outflow, and emission processes in the Galactic Center supermassive black hole Sagittarius A*, the presence of jets has neither been rejected nor proven. We investigate here whether the combined spectral and morphological properties of the source at radio through near infrared wavelengths are consistent with the predictions for inhomogeneous jets. In particular, we construct images of jets at a wavelength of 7mm based on models that are consistent with the spectrum of Sgr A*. We then compare these models through closure quantities with data obtained from the Very Long Baseline Array at 7mm. We find that the best-fit jet models give comparable or better fits than best-fit Gaussian models for the intrinsic source found in previous analyses. The best fitting jet models are bipolar, are highly inclined to the line of sight ( theta > 75^o), may favor a position angle on the sky of 105^o, and have compact bases with sizes of a few gravitational radii.


Preprints available from the authors at sera@science.uva.nl , or the raw TeX (no figures) if you click here.

Back to the gcnews home-page.