- 标题
- 摘要
- 关键词
- 实验方案
- 产品
-
Testing the validity of the ray-tracing code GYOTO
摘要： Context. In the next few years, the near-infrared interferometer GRAVITY will be able to observe the Galactic center. Astrometric data will be obtained with an anticipated accuracy of 10 μas. To analyze these future data, we have developed a code called GYOTO to compute orbits and ray-trace images. Aims. We want to assess the validity and accuracy of GYOTO in a variety of contexts, in particular for stellar astrometry in the Galactic center. Furthermore, we want to tackle and complete a study made on the astrometric displacements that are due to lensing effects of a star of the central parsec with GYOTO. Methods. We first validate GYOTO in the weak-deflection limit (WDL) by studying primary caustics and primary critical curves obtained for a Kerr black hole. We compare GYOTO results to available analytical approximations and estimate GYOTO errors using an intrinsic estimator. In the strong-deflection limit (SDL), we choose to compare null geodesics computed by GYOTO and the ray-tracing code named Geokerr. Finally, we use GYOTO to estimate the apparent astrometric displacements of a star for different angles from Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*). Results. In the WDL, we find a good coherence between GYOTO results and approximations. The maximal difference is around 10?5 μas. Our intrinsic estimator finds a conservative uncertainty estimate also around 10?5 μas. In the SDL, both ray-tracing codes find the same photon’s coordinates with a maximal difference of about 10?3 μas. The shift of a star located behind the plane of sky containing Sgr A* is consistent with the current study. In addition, the effect of lensing on any star in this plane of sky is a radial shift by 5 μas, independent of the distance from Sgr A* up to a very large distance. Conclusions. We have demonstrated that GYOTO is accurate to a very high level, orders of magnitude better than the GRAVITY requirements. GYOTO is also valid in weak- and strong-deflection regimes and for very long integrations. At the astrometric precision that GRAVITY is aiming for, lensing effects must always be taken into account when fitting stellar orbits in the central parsec of the Galaxy.
关键词： gravitational lensing: weak,gravitational lensing: strong,black hole physics,Galaxy: center
更新于2025-09-23 15:21:21
-
KMOS view of the Galactic centre
摘要： Context. The Galactic centre hosts a crowded, dense nuclear star cluster with a half-light radius of 4 pc. Most of the stars in the Galactic centre are cool late-type stars, but there are also >～100 hot early-type stars in the central parsec of the Milky Way. These stars are only 3?8 Myr old. Aims. Our knowledge of the number and distribution of early-type stars in the Galactic centre is incomplete. Only a few spectroscopic observations have been made beyond a projected distance of 0.5 pc of the Galactic centre. The distribution and kinematics of early-type stars are essential to understand the formation and growth of the nuclear star cluster. Methods. We cover the central >4 pc2 (0.75 sq. arcmin) of the Galactic centre using the integral-field spectrograph KMOS (VLT). We extracted more than 1000 spectra from individual stars and identified early-type stars based on their spectra. Results. Our data set contains 114 bright early-type stars: 6 have narrow emission lines, 23 are Wolf-Rayet stars, 9 stars have featureless spectra, and 76 are O/B type stars. Our wide-field spectroscopic data confirm that the distribution of young stars is compact, with 90% of the young stars identified within 0.5 pc of the nucleus. We identify 24 new O/B stars primarily at large radii. We estimate photometric masses of the O/B stars and show that the total mass in the young population is >～12 000 M(cid:4). The O/B stars all appear to be bound to the Milky Way nuclear star cluster, while less than 30% belong to the clockwise rotating disk. We add one new star to the sample of stars affiliated with this disk. Conclusions. The central concentration of the early-type stars is a strong argument that they have formed in situ. An alternative scenario, in which the stars formed outside the Galactic centre in a cluster that migrated to the centre, is refuted. A large part of the young O/B stars is not on the disk, which either means that the early-type stars did not all form on the same disk or that the disk is dissolving rapidly.
关键词： stars: emission-line, Be,Galaxy: center,stars: early-type,stars: Wolf-Rayet
更新于2025-09-23 15:19:57