Image Details
Caption: Fig. 8.
Results of direct simulations of the motion of Sgr A*, owing to the gravitational forces of random stellar orbits, for a hypothetical cluster of stellar remnants. The stellar cluster was assumed to contain ﹩0.4\times 10^{6}﹩ M⊙ with Plummer radial distribution. The line traces the simulated rms of one component of the velocity of Sgr A* as a function of the core radius of the Plummer distribution. For core radii less than about 0.03 pc, the velocity obtained by fitting a straight line to positions over an 8 yr period, similar to our observations, is smaller than the instantaneous velocity owing to rapid fluctuations in position caused by stellar remnants with orbital periods less than 16 yr.
© 2004. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved. Printed in U.S.A.