NIRSPEC observations of the galactic center

Donald Frank Figer; Ian S. McLean; Eric E. Becklin; James R. Graham; James E. Larkin; N. A. Levenson; Harry I. Teplitz

doi:10.1117/12.390132

29 June 2000 NIRSPEC observations of the galactic center

Donald Frank Figer, Ian S. McLean, Eric E. Becklin, James R. Graham, James E. Larkin, N. A. Levenson, Harry I. Teplitz

Proceedings Volume 4005, Discoveries and Research Prospects from 8- to 10-Meter-Class Telescopes; (2000) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.390132
Event: Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation, 2000, Munich, Germany

Abstract

We report NIRSPEC/Keck observations of the Galactic Center obtained in both low and high resolution modes under excellent seeing conditions. The data were obtained as part of the NIRSPEC commissioning program and will be used to determine: 1) the nature of the stars in the central 0.02 pc, 2) the velocities and accelerations of stars around the central black hole, 3) the velocities of ionized gas in the central parsec, 4) the extent of the main sequence population and star formation history in central parsec, 5) the mass magnitude relation and initial mass function in the Arches cluster, 6) the nature of the MIR sources in the central parsec and Quintuplet clusters, 7) the physical parameters of stellar atmosphere/winds of super luminous stars, and 8) the metallicity in the GC as inferred from observations of red supergiants, red giants, and hot stars. We present a sample of these data, including a high resolution slit scan movie of the central parsec, and show how they can be used to vastly improve the current state of the art in the related science topics. Further, we discuss preliminary results concerning the nature of the central cusp stars and the resultant implications for star formation near a supermassive black hole.

Citation Download Citation

Donald Frank Figer, Ian S. McLean, Eric E. Becklin, James R. Graham, James E. Larkin, N. A. Levenson, and Harry I. Teplitz "NIRSPEC observations of the galactic center", Proc. SPIE 4005, Discoveries and Research Prospects from 8- to 10-Meter-Class Telescopes, (29 June 2000); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.390132

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