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The structure of the nuclear stellar cluster of the Milky Way

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 August 2006

Rainer Schödel  and
Andreas Eckart
Rainer Schödel
Affiliation:
I. Physikalisches Institut, Universität zu Köln, Zülpicher Str. 77, 50937 Köln, Germany email: [email protected]
Andreas Eckart
Affiliation:
I. Physikalisches Institut, Universität zu Köln, Zülpicher Str. 77, 50937 Köln, Germany email: [email protected] Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie, Auf dem Hügel 69, 53121 Bonn, [email protected]
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Abstract

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High-resolution adaptive optics observations of the inner 0.5 pc of the Milky Way with multiple intermediate band filters are presented. From the images, stellar number counts and a detailed map of the interstellar extinction were extracted. The extinction map is consistent with a putative southwest-northeast aligned outflow from the central arcseconds.

An azimuthally averaged, crowding and extinction corrected stellar density profile presents clear evidence for the existence of a stellar cusp around Sgr A*. Several density peaks are found in the cluster that may indicate clumping of stars, possibly related to the last epoch of star formation in the Galactic Center. An analysis of stars in the brightness range 14.25 < magK < 15.75 shows possible signs of mass segregation.

Keywords

Stellar dynamics – Galaxy: center – Galaxy: nucleus
Type
Contributed Papers
Information
Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union , Volume 2 , Symposium S238: Black Holes from Stars to Galaxies – Across the Range of Masses , August 2006 , pp. 187 - 190
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2007

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