A gas cloud on its way towards the super-massive black hole in the Galactic Centre

TL;DR

This paper reports the discovery and ongoing observation of a dense gas cloud approaching the supermassive black hole Sagittarius A* at the Galactic Centre, providing a unique opportunity to study black hole accretion processes.

Contribution

It presents the first detailed observation of a gas cloud on a highly eccentric orbit heading towards Sgr A*, offering insights into black hole feeding mechanisms.

Findings

The gas cloud is approximately three times the mass of Earth.

The orbit of the cloud is highly eccentric, with closest approach around 3,100 times the event horizon.

The cloud has begun to disrupt due to tidal shearing, indicating imminent accretion activity.

Abstract

Measurements of stellar orbits provide compelling evidence that the compact radio source Sagittarius A* at the Galactic Centre is a black hole four million times the mass of the Sun. With the exception of modest X-ray and infrared flares, Sgr A* is surprisingly faint, suggesting that the accretion rate and radiation efficiency near the event horizon are currently very low. Here we report the presence of a dense gas cloud approximately three times the mass of Earth that is falling into the accretion zone of Sgr A*. Our observations tightly constrain the cloud's orbit to be highly eccentric, with an innermost radius of approach of only ~3,100 times the event horizon that will be reached in 2013. Over the past three years the cloud has begun to disrupt, probably mainly through tidal shearing arising from the black hole's gravitational force. The cloud's dynamic evolution and radiation in the next few years will probe the properties of the accretion flow and the feeding processes of the super-massive black hole. The kilo-electronvolt X-ray emission of Sgr A* may brighten significantly when the cloud reaches pericentre. There may also be a giant radiation flare several years from now if the cloud breaks up and its fragments feed gas into the central accretion zone.