The Galactic Black Hole

TL;DR

The Galactic Black Hole, a relatively modest but nearby black hole at the Milky Way's center, offers unique observational opportunities to study black hole behavior in detail, despite its low activity and luminosity.

Contribution

This review synthesizes current knowledge about the Galactic Black Hole's characteristics, activity, and future research prospects, emphasizing its importance for understanding black hole phenomena.

Findings

The GBH has a mass of 4 million solar masses.

Its accretion flow is remarkably dim and overshadowed by nearby stars.

Its proximity allows detailed observation of black hole behavior.

Abstract

The black hole at the center of our Milky Way Galaxy -- the Galactic Black Hole, or GBH -- is a rather modest representative of its class. With a mass of 4 x 10^6 solar masses, it is well over a thousand times less massive than the most extreme supermassive black holes known to be powering the most luminous quasars. Furthermore, the Galactic Black Hole has a remarkably dim accretion flow, and its luminous energy output is overwhelmed by the dense cluster of bright stars and red giants that surround it, except at radio wavelengths. However, the proximity of the GBH compensates for its restrained activity; being over 100 times closer than the next nearest supermassive black hole in a galactic nucleus, it offers us an unparalleled opportunity to observe its behavior in detail. Consequently, far more observational attention has been paid to the GBH and its entourage of stars and gas than to any other single object outside the solar system. This review covers the history of our recognition of the GBH, its presently known physical characteristics, the manifestations of its current and past activity, and the prospects for refining our knowledge with future research.