The apparent tail of the Galactic center object G2/DSO

TL;DR

This paper analyzes the nature of the Galactic center object G2/DSO, presenting observational data and arguing it is likely a dust-enshrouded young stellar object rather than a gaseous cloud, based on detailed imaging and orbital analysis.

Contribution

The study provides a comprehensive analysis of G2/DSO using VLT/SINFONI data, proposing it is a dust-enshrouded young star cluster remnant rather than a simple gas cloud.

Findings

G2/DSO's tail consists of two compact sources with distinct orbits.

The object is likely a dust-enshrouded young stellar object.

Remnants of a dissolved young stellar cluster in the Galactic center.

Abstract

The observations of the near-infrared excess object G2/DSO induced an increased attention towards the Galactic center and its vicinity. The predicted flaring event in 2014 and the outcome of the intense monitoring of the supermassive black hole in the center of our Galaxy did not fulfill all predictions about a significantly enhanced accretion event. Subsequent observations furthermore addressed the question concerning the nature of the object because of its compact shape, especially during its periapse in 2014. Theoretical approaches have attempted to answer the contradicting behavior of the object, resisting the expected dissolution of a gaseous cloud due to tidal forces in combination with evaporation and hydrodynamical instabilities. However, assuming that the object is rather a dust-enshrouded young stellar object seems to be in line with the predictions of several groups and observations presented in numerous publications. Here we present a detailed overview and analysis of the observations of the object that have been performed with SINFONI (VLT) and provide a comprehensive approach to clarify the nature of G2/DSO. We show that the tail emission consists of two isolated and compact sources with different orbital elements for each source rather than an extended and stretched component as it appeared in previous representations of the same data. Considering our recent publications, we propose that the monitored dust-enshrouded objects are remnants of a dissolved young stellar cluster whose formation was initiated in the Circum-nuclear Disk. This indicates a shared history which agrees with our analysis of the D- and X-sources.