Mass distribution in the Galactic Center based on interferometric astrometry of 
multiple stellar orbits

Abuter, R.; Aimar, N.; Amorim, A.; Ball, J.; Bauböck, M.; Berger, J. P.; Bonnet, H.; Bourdarot, G.; Brandner, W.; Cardoso, V.; Clénet, Y.; Dallilar, Y.; Davies, R.; de Zeeuw, P. T.; Dexter, J.; Drescher, A.; Eisenhauer, F.; Förster Schreiber, N. M.; Foschi, A.; Garcia, P.; Gao, F.; Gendron, E.; Genzel, R.; Gillessen, S.; Habibi, M.; Haubois, X.; Heißel, G.; Henning, T.; Hippler, S.; Horrobin, M.; Jochum, L.; Jocou, L.; Kaufer, A.; Kervella, P.; Lacour, S.; Lapeyrère, V.; Le Bouquin, J.-B.; Léna, P.; Lutz, D.; Ott, T.; Paumard, T.; Perraut, K.; Perrin, G.; Pfuhl, O.; Rabien, S.; Shangguan, J.; Shimizu, T.; Scheithauer, S.; Stadler, J.; Stephens, A.W.; Straub, O.; Straubmeier, C.; Sturm, E.; Tacconi, L. J.; Tristram, K. R. W.; Vincent, F.; Fellenberg, S. D. von; Widmann, F.; Wieprecht, E.; Wiezorrek, E.; Woillez, J.; Yazici, S.; Young, A.

doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202142465

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Mass distribution in the Galactic Center based on interferometric astrometry of multiple stellar orbits

MPS-Authors

/persons/resource/persons216131

Bauböck, M.
Infrared and Submillimeter Astronomy, MPI for Extraterrestrial Physics, Max Planck Society;

/persons/resource/persons268015

Bourdarot, G.
MPI for Extraterrestrial Physics, Max Planck Society;

/persons/resource/persons250315

Dallilar, Y.
Infrared and Submillimeter Astronomy, MPI for Extraterrestrial Physics, Max Planck Society;

/persons/resource/persons208361

Davies, R.
Infrared and Submillimeter Astronomy, MPI for Extraterrestrial Physics, Max Planck Society;

/persons/resource/persons225865

de Zeeuw, P. T.
Infrared and Submillimeter Astronomy, MPI for Extraterrestrial Physics, Max Planck Society;

/persons/resource/persons146381

Dexter, J.
Infrared and Submillimeter Astronomy, MPI for Extraterrestrial Physics, Max Planck Society;

/persons/resource/persons254980

Drescher, A.
Infrared and Submillimeter Astronomy, MPI for Extraterrestrial Physics, Max Planck Society;

/persons/resource/persons4766

Eisenhauer, F.
Infrared and Submillimeter Astronomy, MPI for Extraterrestrial Physics, Max Planck Society;

/persons/resource/persons4923

Förster Schreiber, N. M.
Infrared and Submillimeter Astronomy, MPI for Extraterrestrial Physics, Max Planck Society;

/persons/resource/persons214427

Gao, F.
Infrared and Submillimeter Astronomy, MPI for Extraterrestrial Physics, Max Planck Society;

/persons/resource/persons4590

Genzel, R.
Infrared and Submillimeter Astronomy, MPI for Extraterrestrial Physics, Max Planck Society;

/persons/resource/persons4768

Gillessen, S.
Infrared and Submillimeter Astronomy, MPI for Extraterrestrial Physics, Max Planck Society;

/persons/resource/persons181377

Habibi, M.
Infrared and Submillimeter Astronomy, MPI for Extraterrestrial Physics, Max Planck Society;

/persons/resource/persons4584

Lutz, D.
Infrared and Submillimeter Astronomy, MPI for Extraterrestrial Physics, Max Planck Society;

/persons/resource/persons16190

Ott, T.
Infrared and Submillimeter Astronomy, MPI for Extraterrestrial Physics, Max Planck Society;

/persons/resource/persons4782

Pfuhl, O.
Infrared and Submillimeter Astronomy, MPI for Extraterrestrial Physics, Max Planck Society;

/persons/resource/persons4786

Rabien, S.
Infrared and Submillimeter Astronomy, MPI for Extraterrestrial Physics, Max Planck Society;

/persons/resource/persons232571

Shangguan, J.
Infrared and Submillimeter Astronomy, MPI for Extraterrestrial Physics, Max Planck Society;

/persons/resource/persons206401

Shimizu, T.
Infrared and Submillimeter Astronomy, MPI for Extraterrestrial Physics, Max Planck Society;

/persons/resource/persons232635

Straub, O.
Infrared and Submillimeter Astronomy, MPI for Extraterrestrial Physics, Max Planck Society;

/persons/resource/persons4650

Sturm, E.
Infrared and Submillimeter Astronomy, MPI for Extraterrestrial Physics, Max Planck Society;

/persons/resource/persons4582

Tacconi, L. J.
Infrared and Submillimeter Astronomy, MPI for Extraterrestrial Physics, Max Planck Society;

/persons/resource/persons206120

Fellenberg, S. D. von
Infrared and Submillimeter Astronomy, MPI for Extraterrestrial Physics, Max Planck Society;

/persons/resource/persons214431

Widmann, F.
Infrared and Submillimeter Astronomy, MPI for Extraterrestrial Physics, Max Planck Society;

/persons/resource/persons16329

Wieprecht, E.
Infrared and Submillimeter Astronomy, MPI for Extraterrestrial Physics, Max Planck Society;

/persons/resource/persons16335

Wiezorrek, E.
Infrared and Submillimeter Astronomy, MPI for Extraterrestrial Physics, Max Planck Society;

/persons/resource/persons264455

Young, A.
Infrared and Submillimeter Astronomy, MPI for Extraterrestrial Physics, Max Planck Society;

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Citation

Abuter, R., Aimar, N., Amorim, A., Ball, J., Bauböck, M., Berger, J. P., et al. (2022). Mass distribution in the Galactic Center based on interferometric astrometry of multiple stellar orbits. Astronomy and Astrophysics, 657: L12. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202142465.

Cite as: https://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-000A-0D42-E

Abstract

Stars orbiting the compact radio source Sgr A* in the Galactic Center serve as precision probes of the gravitational field around the closest massive black hole. In addition to adaptive optics-assisted astrometry (with NACO/VLT) and spectroscopy (with SINFONI/VLT, NIRC2/Keck and GNIRS/Gemini) over three decades, we have obtained 30–100 μas astrometry since 2017 with the four-telescope interferometric beam combiner GRAVITY/VLTI, capable of reaching a sensitivity of mK = 20 when combining data from one night. We present the simultaneous detection of several stars within the diffraction limit of a single telescope, illustrating the power of interferometry in the field. The new data for the stars S2, S29, S38, and S55 yield significant accelerations between March and July 2021, as these stars pass the pericenters of their orbits between 2018 and 2023. This allows for a high-precision determination of the gravitational potential around Sgr A*. Our data are in excellent agreement with general relativity orbits around a single central point mass, M_• = 4.30 × 10⁶ M_⊙, with a precision of about ±0.25%. We improve the significance of our detection of the Schwarzschild precession in the S2 orbit to 7σ. Assuming plausible density profiles, the extended mass component inside the S2 apocenter (≈0.23″ or 2.4 × 10⁴ R_S) must be ≲3000 M_⊙ (1σ), or ≲0.1% of M_•. Adding the enclosed mass determinations from 13 stars orbiting Sgr A* at larger radii, the innermost radius at which the excess mass beyond Sgr A* is tentatively seen is r ≈ 2.5″ ≥ 10× the apocenter of S2. This is in full harmony with the stellar mass distribution (including stellar-mass black holes) obtained from the spatially resolved luminosity function.