The Orbit and Nature of the Semidetached Stellar Companion of the Sgr A∗ Supermassive Black Hole

Elia Leibowitz*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

3 Scopus citations

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.

Original languageEnglish
Article number2
JournalAstrophysical Journal
Volume915
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Jul 2021

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