Search arXivSearch

arXiv · 2104.13152

The orbit and nature of the semi-detached stellar companion of Sgr A* super-massive blackhole

Abstract

In three previous papers I showed that the series of the midpoints of the times of all the X-ray flares of Sgr A* that have been detected so far harbor a statistical trend termed pacemaker regularity. This means that X-ray flares are detected more frequently around time points that are a subset of a periodic grid on the time axis of period P_X=0.1032 day=149 minutes. The series of the times of detection of the peaks of near IR (NIR) flares of the object are also regulated by a pacemaker with a period of P_IR=0.028 day=41 minutes. Here, I show that the series of the midpoints of the times of recorded NIR flares are also regulated by a pacemaker of the period P_IRM=0.039 day=56 minutes. The two pacemakers found in the previous papers were interpreted as signals of a star that revolves around the black hole of Sgr A* in orbit with a mean radius of ~3.2 Schwarzschild radii of the black hole, here corrected to ~3.13. The finding of the period of the third pacemaker is consistent with the suggested revolving star model. Here, I present the specific orbit of the star as well as a plausible description of its sidereal rotation. The model also implies that the star has an unusual internal structure. I show that the discovery of the GRAVITY collaboration of the motion of hotspots at distances from the black hole that are of the order of very few Schwarzschild radii of it may well be understood within the context of the revolving star model.

Explore related subjects

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

Elia Leibowitz. 2021-07-01. The orbit and nature of the semi-detached stellar companion of Sgr A* super-massive blackhole. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357%2Fabfc4c

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related papers

GW231109_235456: A Sub-threshold Binary Neutron Star Merger in the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA O4a Observing Run?

We present a sub-threshold search for gravitational-wave inspirals from binary neutron stars using data from the first part of the fourth LIGO--Virgo--KAGRA observing run. To enhance sensitivity to this targeted population, we adopt a population prior informed by the Galactic double neutron star population observed via radio pulsar surveys and by the confirmed GW170817 event. The search, with a sensitivity ~60% higher than standard GWTC-4.0 searches, recovers the previously sub-threshold candidate GW231109_235456 (reported in GWTC-4.0) with a network signal-to-noise ratio of 9.7 and an improved false-alarm rate of 1 per 60 years. Accounting for a trials factor of five, arising from the four previous searches and this new search, the false-alarm rate of the candidate is approximately 1 per 12 years. If the event is of astrophysical origin, the inferred source properties indicate component masses of 1.40 to 2.24 solar masses for the primary and 0.97 to 1.49 solar masses for the secondary, yielding a total mass of 2.95 solar masses with an uncertainty of plus 0.38 and minus 0.07 solar masses. The event is localized to a region of 430 square degrees (90% probability) at a luminosity distance of 165 megaparsecs with an uncertainty of plus 70 and minus 69 megaparsecs. Assuming the signal arises from a binary neutron star merger, this event would contribute a local merger rate of 53 to 342 per cubic gigaparsec per year (90% credible interval).

astro-ph.HE

Gaussian-process evidence for a stochastic-variability transition in the recovering corona of 1ES 1927+654

We investigate the stochastic X-ray variability of the changing-look active galactic nucleus 1ES 1927+654 during its 2018--2024 evolution, focusing on the recovery of the X-ray corona after its 2018 collapse. Using XMM-Newton EPIC-pn light curves in the 0.3--2.0 keV and 2.0--10.0 keV bands, we model the variability with Gaussian process (GP) covariance components including Matérn-3/2, damped-random-walk (DRW), stochastically driven damped simple-harmonic-oscillator (SHO), and white-noise terms. Bayesian model comparison reveals an X-ray stochastic-variability transition during the changing-look recovery phase. In the 2019 May 5 observation, the preferred covariance changes from a Matérn-3/2-like state to a DRW-like state within a single continuous exposure. A phenomenological gated-kernel estimate localizes this transition sharply in the hard band at $t_c\simeq23.5~{\rm ks}$, while the soft band shows the same qualitative change over a broader interval. This transition occurs after the X-ray corona had reappeared but before the later pronounced hardening and brightening of the coronal emission, suggesting an early timing-domain signature of disk--corona reconfiguration. Phenomenologically, the dominant variability evolves from a smoother, finite-memory correlated process to a rougher, shorter-memory red-noise process. In the later 2022--2024 observations, SHO-like components associated with the known millihertz QPO show increasing characteristic frequency and quality factor, indicating a faster and more coherent oscillatory component during the QPO-plus-jet phase. GP-based time-domain inference therefore provides a sensitive probe of stochastic-variability changes in recovering AGN coronae.

astro-ph.HE

Exploring the dynamics of the Coma galaxy cluster by mapping its X-ray emission line profiles with XRISM

The intracluster medium (ICM) in merging galaxy clusters exhibits turbulence and bulk flows. Unraveling these components is crucial not only for elucidating the geometry of the cluster mergers, but also for understanding the physics of magnetic field amplification and relativistic particle acceleration. XRISM/Resolve data for two $3'\times3'$ fields in the core of the Coma cluster reveales that the ICM in the central field moves with $Δcz = -430$~km~s$^{-1}$ relative to the cluster galaxy average, while that in the southern field moves with $Δcz = -730$~km~s$^{-1}$ (see \cite{2025ApJ...985L..20X}, hereinafter ``Paper I''). In this paper, we perform a more detailed analysis of these data sets to search for non-Gaussian features in the Fe-K line complex profiles. In the spectra from the northwest (NW) quadrant of the central field, in addition to the main and redshifted ICM components ($Δcz = -40$ km s$^{-1}$) reported in Paper I, we find evidence of another, blueshifted component, moving with $Δcz = -1250$ km s$^{-1}$. For a systematic search for other significant velocity components, we perform a bias-free 3 eV step multi-component fit to the Resolve full-array spectra from the central and southern fields. This search uncovers another redshifted component in the southern field, moving with $Δcz \sim +1230$ km s$^{-1}$. We estimate the energy densities of the ICM turbulence and bulk motion to be similar to each other and several times greater than the energy density of the cluster's $B\sim 5~μ$G magnetic field.

astro-ph.HE