Journal
ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL
Volume 625, Issue 2, Pages L111-L114Publisher
IOP PUBLISHING LTD
DOI: 10.1086/431307
Keywords
Galaxy : center; Galaxy : nucleus; infrared : stars
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The IRS 13E complex is an unusual concentration of massive, early-type stars at a projected distance of similar to 0.13 pc from the Milky Way's central supermassive black hole Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*). Because of their similar proper motion and their common nature as massive, young stars, it has recently been suggested that IRS 13E may be the remnant of a massive stellar cluster containing an intermediate-mass black hole (IMBH) that binds its members gravitationally in the tidal field of Sgr A*. Here, we present an analysis of the proper motions in the IRS 13E environment that combines the currently best available data with a time line of 10 years. We find that an IMBH in IRS 13E must have a minimum mass of similar to 10(4) M, in order to bind the source complex gravitationally. This high-mass limit in combination with the absence so far of compelling evidence for a nonthermal radio and X-ray source in IRS 13E make it appear unlikely that an IMBH exists in IRS 13E that is sufficiently massive to bind the system gravitationally.
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