Journal
ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL
Volume 597, Issue 2, Pages L121-L124Publisher
UNIV CHICAGO PRESS
DOI: 10.1086/380188
Keywords
galaxies : distances and redshifts; Galaxy : center; Galaxy : fundamental parameters Galaxy : structure
Categories
Ask authors/readers for more resources
We report new astrometric and spectroscopic observations of the star S2 orbiting the massive black hole in the Galactic center that were taken at the ESO VLT with the adaptive optics-assisted, near-IR camera NAOS/CONICA and the near-IR integral field spectrometer SPIFFI. We use these data to determine all the orbital parameters of the star with high precision, including the Sun-Galactic center distance, which is a key parameter for calibrating stellar standard candles and an important rung in the extragalactic distance ladder. Our deduced value of R-0=7.94+/-0.24 kpc is the most accurate primary distance measurement to the center of the Milky Way and has minimal systematic uncertainties of astrophysical origin. It is in excellent agreement with other recent determinations of R-0.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available