Central Part of the Galaxy in X-Rays

Abstract

Studying the central part of the Galaxy is of great interest for observational astronomy and astrophysics. Based on the results from observations in the X-ray energy range, remnants of supernova explosions, star clusters, X-ray binaries, and nonthermal filaments have been detected in a small region of the Galactic center. However, the most interesting object of study is the supermassive black hole Sagittarius A*, along with its immediate environment, including the recently discovered extended emission (several parsecs) and nearby molecular clouds. This work presents the preliminary results from a study of the properties of the stellar population in the immediate environment of Sagittarius A*. Using data from the NuSTAR orbital X-ray telescope and the stellar mass population model of the central part of the Galaxy, we estimate the X-ray luminosity per unit stellar mass of the Sagittarius A* extended emission, which is found to be a factor several times higher than the similar value throughout the Galaxy.