Signature of an Intermediate-Mass Black Hole in the Central Molecular Zone of Our Galaxy
Abstract
The high-velocity compact cloud CO-0.40-0.22 was mapped in 22 molecular lines with the NRO 45 m radio telescope and the ASTE 10 m telescope. The map of each detected line shows that this cloud has a compact appearance (d~=3 pc) and extremely broad velocity width (Δ V~=100 km s-1). The representative position-velocity map along the major axis shows that CO-0.40-0.22 consists of an intense region with a shallow velocity gradient and a less intense high-velocity wing. This kinematical structure can be attributed to a gravitational kick to the molecular cloud caused by an invisible compact object with a mass of ~105 M ⊙. Its compactness and the absence of a counterpart at other wavelengths suggest that this massive object is an intermediate-mass black hole.
- Publication:
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The Multi-Messenger Astrophysics of the Galactic Centre
- Pub Date:
- January 2017
- DOI:
- 10.1017/S1743921316011832
- Bibcode:
- 2017IAUS..322..119O
- Keywords:
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- galaxies: nuclei-Galaxy: center-ISM: clouds-ISM: molecules