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We present two decades of new high-angular-resolution near-infrared data fromthe W. M. Keck Observatory that reveal extreme evolution in X7, an elongateddust and gas feature, presently located half an arcsecond from the GalacticCenter supermassive black hole. With both spectro-imaging observations ofBr-{\gamma} line-emission and Lp (3.8 {\mu}m) imaging data, we provide thefirst estimate of its orbital parameters and quantitative characterization ofthe evolution of its morphology and mass. We find that the leading edge of X7appears to be on a mildly eccentric (e~0.3), relatively short-period (170years) orbit and is headed towards periapse passage, estimated to occur in~2036. Furthermore, our kinematic measurements rule out the earlier suggestionthat X7 is associated with the stellar source S0-73 or with any other pointsource that has overlapped with X7 during our monitoring period. Over thecourse of our observations, X7 has (1) become more elongated, with a currentlength-to-width ratio of 9, (2) maintained a very consistent long-axisorientation (position angle of 50 deg), (3) inverted its radial velocitydifferential from tip to tail from -50 to +80 km/sec, and (4) sustained itstotal brightness (12.8 Lp magnitudes at the leading edge) and color temperature(425 K), which suggest a constant mass of ~50 MEarth. We present a simple modelshowing that these results are compatible with the expected effect of tidalforces exerted on it by the central black hole and we propose that X7 is thegas and dust recently ejected from a grazing collision in a binary system.

The Swansong of the Galactic Center Source X7: An Extreme Example of Tidal Evolution near the Supermassive Black Hole