English (United Kingdom)

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/featured_content/oa?rat=en

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/highlighted_journal/

Zendy Plus

Presents the access of premium content as premium feature

Premium Content

Presents the keyphrase highlighting as premium feature

Keyphrase Highlighting

Presents the summarisation as premium feature

Summarisation

Insights

Presents the pdf analysis as premium feature

PDF Analysis

Presents the zaia usage as premium feature

ZAIA

Zendy Tools

Zendy Open

The Galactic Center black hole Sgr A* is the archetypical example of anunderfed massive black hole. The extremely low accretion rate can be understoodin radiatively inefficient accretion flow models. Testing those models hasproven to be difficult due to the lack of suitable probes. Radio and submmpolarization measurements constrain the flow very close to the event horizon.X-ray observations resolving the Bondi radius yield an estimate roughly fourorders of magnitude further out. Here, we present a new, indirect measurementof the accretion flow density at intermediate radii. We use the dynamics of thegas cloud G2 to probe the ambient density. We detect the presence of a dragforce slowing down G2 with a statistical significance of approx 9 {\sigma}.This probes the accretion flow density at around 1000 Schwarzschild radii andyields a number density of approx. 4 x 10^3 cm^-3. Self-similar accretionmodels where the density follows a power law radial profile between the innerzone and the Bondi radius have predicted similar values.

Detection of a drag force in G2's orbit: Measuring the density of the accretion flow onto Sgr A* at 1000 Schwarzschild radii