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High-resolution VLBA imaging of the radio source Sgr A* at the Galactic CentreImages of Sgr* A with milliarcsecond resolution obtained by using five telescopes of the partially completed Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) in conjunction with a few additional telescopes are presented. The image of Sgr A* at a wavelength of 3.6 cm confirms almost exactly the elliptical Gaussian model that has been proposed on the basis of previous data. The source size at 1.34 cm wavelength is 2.4 +/- 0.2 mas, similar to previous results. At both wavelengths, the radio source is smooth, without detectable fine structure. These observations support the suggestion that the radio emission from Sgr A* is strongly scattered by electron-density fluctuations along the line of sight. On the assumption that the emission is due to a black hole accreting stellar winds from massive stars in the central 0.5 pc, the observations are consistent with a black hole mass of less than about 2 million solar masses.
Document ID
19930046276
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
External Source(s)
Authors
Lo, K. Y.
(Illinois Univ. Urbana, United States)
Backer, D. C.
(California Univ. Berkeley, United States)
Kellermann, K. I.
(National Radio Astronomy Observatory Charlottesville, VA, United States)
Reid, M.
(Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics Cambridge, MA, United States)
Zhao, J. H.
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Goss, W. M.
(National Radio Astronomy Observatory Socorro, NM, United States)
Moran, J. M.
(Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics Cambridge, MA, United States)
Date Acquired
August 16, 2013
Publication Date
March 4, 1993
Publication Information
Publication: Nature
Volume: 362
Issue: 6415
ISSN: 0028-0836
Subject Category
Astrophysics
Accession Number
93A30273
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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