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Modelling the thermal X-ray emission around the Galactic centre from colliding Wolf-Rayet winds

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 July 2017

Christopher M. P. Russell ,
Q. Daniel Wang  and
Jorge Cuadra
Christopher M. P. Russell
Affiliation:
X-ray Astrophysics Laboratory, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA (NASA Postdoctoral Program Fellow, administered by USRA) email: crussell@udel.edu
Q. Daniel Wang
Affiliation:
Department of Astronomy, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003, USA
Jorge Cuadra
Affiliation:
Instituto de Astrofísica, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, 782-0436 Santiago, Chile
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Abstract

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We compute the thermal X-ray emission from hydrodynamic simulations of the 30 Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars orbiting within a parsec of Sgr A*, with the aim of interpreting the Chandra X-ray observations of this region. The model well reproduces the spectral shape of the observations, indicating that the shocked WR winds are the dominant source of this thermal emission. The model X-ray flux is tied to the strength of the Sgr A* outflow, which clears out hot gas from the vicinity of Sgr A*. A moderate outflow best fits the present-day observations, even though this supermassive black hole (SMBH) outflow ended ~100 yr ago.

Keywords

Galaxy: centreX-rays: starsstars: Wolf-Rayetstars: windsoutflows
Type
Contributed Papers
Information
Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union , Volume 12 , Symposium S329: The Lives and Death-Throes of Massive Stars , November 2016 , pp. 443
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2017 

References

Russell, C. M. P., Wang, Q. D., & Cuadra, J., 2017, MNRAS, 464, 4958 Google Scholar