Tidal disruption of asteroids by supermassive black holes

The compact radio source Sgr A* at the centre of our Galaxy harbours a super-massive black hole, and is therefore the nearest laboratory for testing the super-massive black hole astrophysics and environment. Since it is not an active galactic nucleus, it also offers the possibility of observing the...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Gomboc A., Calvani M., Čadež A., Kostić U.
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: EDP Sciences 2012-12-01
Series:EPJ Web of Conferences
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/20123907004
Description
Summary:The compact radio source Sgr A* at the centre of our Galaxy harbours a super-massive black hole, and is therefore the nearest laboratory for testing the super-massive black hole astrophysics and environment. Since it is not an active galactic nucleus, it also offers the possibility of observing the capture of low-mass objects, such as comets or asteroids, that may orbit the central black hole. In this paper we discuss conditions for tidal disruption of low-mass objects and predictions of the appearance and light curve of such events, as well as their relevance for the X-ray and infra-red flares detected in Sgr A*. The modelled light curves of such tidal disruption events bear marks of the strong gravitational field: tidal squeezing and elongation of the object, gravitational lensing, aberration of light, and Doppler effects. Finally, we show that this model is able to reproduce and fit X-ray flares.
ISSN:2100-014X