The former companion of the hyper-velocity star S5-HVS1

TL;DR

This paper investigates the origin and fate of the companion star to the hyper-velocity star S5-HVS1, suggesting it was a main-sequence star captured by the Galactic Center's black hole, with implications for detecting such stars and probing black hole spin.

Contribution

It provides a detailed Monte Carlo analysis of the companion star's properties, orbital evolution, and survival probability, linking hyper-velocity star ejections to potential observable remnants.

Findings

The companion was likely a 1.2-6 solar mass main-sequence star.

Survival probability ranges from 5% to 50%, depending on orbital relaxation.

Potentially observable as an extreme member of the S-star cluster.

Abstract

The hyper-velocity star S5-HVS1, ejected 5 Myr ago from the Galactic Center at 1800 km/s, was most likely produced by tidal break-up of a tight binary by the supermassive black hole SgrA*. Taking a Monte Carlo approach, we show that the former companion of S5-HVS1 was likely a main-sequence star between 1.2 and 6 solar masses and was captured into a highly eccentric orbit with pericenter distance in the range 1-10 AU and semimajor axis about $10^3$ AU. We then explore the fate of the captured star. We find that the heat deposited by tidally excited stellar oscillation modes leads to runaway disruption if the pericenter distance is smaller than about 3 AU. Over the past 5 Myr, its angular momentum has been significantly modified by orbital relaxation, which may stochastically drive the pericenter inwards below 3 AU and cause tidal disruption. We find an overall survival probability in the range 5% to 50%, depending on the local relaxation time in the close environment of the captured star, and the initial pericenter at capture. The pericenter distance of the surviving star has migrated to 10-100 AU, making it potentially the most extreme member of the S-star cluster. From the ejection rate of S5-HVS1-like stars, we estimate that there may currently be a few stars in such highly eccentric orbits. They should be detectable (typically Ks < 18.5 mag) by the GRAVITY instrument and by future Extremely Large Telescopes and hence provide an extraordinary probe of the spin of SgrA*.