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Multi-Array λ2 and 6cm Radio Continuum Observations of Sgr A West
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 23 September 2016
Abstract
Sub-arcsecond (down to 0.1″ × 0.2″) radio continuum observations using the VLA2 in a number of configurations have been carried out in order to investigate the fine-scale morphological details of the ionized gas and the distribution of spectral index along the triskelian-shaped figure of Sgr A West. In addition to finding a number of isolated patches of thermally-emitting gas and an absorbing feature at λ6cm within three arcminutes of the Galactic center, we have observed:
1) radio continuum emission from IRS-7, implying that the stellar wind from this supergiant is externally ionized. An improved position for this object was obtained.
2) the circular mini-cavity located along the east-west bar of Sgr A West. This feature has a diameter of 2-arcseconds and may have been created by a spherical wind, the source of which is yet to be identified; the seemingly most plausible candidate, IRS-16, is offset by 3″ from the center of the cavity.
Spectral index maps having a resolution of 0.7″ × 0.3″ were made from scaled array observations at λ2cm and 6cm. They show that the eastern arm has a spectral index near −0.1, while the northern arm and the bar have positive spectral indices, indicating perhaps a partial opacity effect. The spectral index of IRS-7 is +0.6, consistent with that expected from a completely ionized stellar wind.
- Type
- Sagittarius A West and the Circumnuclear Disk
- Information
- Symposium - International Astronomical Union , Volume 136: The Galactic Center , 1989 , pp. 443 - 451
- Copyright
- Copyright © Kluwer 1989
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