Sagittarius A* Companion S0-2: A Probe of Very High Mass Star Formation
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Date
2003-08-01
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American Astronomical Society
Abstract
The star S0-2, which is orbiting Sgr A* with a 15 yr period, almost certainly did not form in situ. We propose that it was injected into this close orbit by the tidal disruption of a massive-star binary, whose primary was more massive than S0-2 and at least 60 Msun. From numerical integrations we find that 1%-2% of incoming binaries with closest approach equal to 130 AU leave the secondary in an orbit with eccentricity within 0.01 of that of S0-2. If additional stars are found orbiting Sgr A* with relatively short periods, they could be used to probe the formation of massive stars in the Galactocentric region, even though the massive stars themselves have long since perished.
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Keywords
binaries: general, Galaxy: center, stars: early-type, stars: formation, stars: fundamental parameters, stars: kinematics
Citation
Andrew Gould and Alice Quillen, "Sagittarius A* Companion S0-2: A Probe of Very High Mass Star Formation," The Astrophysical Journal 592, no. 2 (2003), doi:10.1086/375840