The rotation measure and 3.5 millimeter polarization of Sagittarius A

被引:65
作者
Macquart, Jean-Pierre
Bower, Geoffrey C.
Wright, Melvyn C. H.
Backer, Donald C.
Falcke, Heino
机构
[1] Natl Radio Astron Observ, Socorro, NM 87801 USA
[2] Univ Calif Berkeley, Dept Astron, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA
[3] Univ Calif Berkeley, Radio Astron Lab, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA
[4] Netherlands Fdn Res Astron, NL-7990 AA Dwingeloo, Netherlands
[5] Radboud Univ Nijmegen, NL-6500 GL Nijmegen, Netherlands
关键词
galaxies : active; Galaxy : center; polarization; radiation mechanisms : nonthermal;
D O I
10.1086/506932
中图分类号
P1 [天文学];
学科分类号
0704 ;
摘要
We report the detection of variable linear polarization from Sgr A* at a wavelength of 3.5 mm, the longest wavelength yet at which a detection has been made. The mean polarization is 2.1% +/- 0.1% at a position angle of 16 degrees +/- 2 degrees with rms scatters of 0.4% and 9 degrees over the five epochs. We also detect polarization variability on a timescale of days. Combined with previous detections over the range 150-400 GHz (750-2000 mm), the average polarization position angles are all found to be consistent with a rotation measure of -(4.4 +/- 0.3) x 10(5) rad m(-2). This implies that the Faraday rotation occurs external to the polarized source at all wavelengths. This implies an accretion rate similar to(0.2-4) x 10(-8) M-circle dot yr(-1) for the accretion density profiles expected of ADAF, jet, and CDAF models and assuming that the region at which electrons in the accretion flow become relativistic is within 10R(S). The inferred accretion rate is inconsistent with ADAF/Bondi accretion. The stability of the mean polarization position angle between disparate polarization observations over the frequency range limits fluctuations in the accretion rate to less than 5%. The flat frequency dependence of the interday polarization position angle variations also makes them difficult to attribute to rotation-measure fluctuations and suggests that both the magnitude and position angle variations are intrinsic to the emission.
引用
收藏
页码:L111 / L114
页数:4
相关论文
共 26 条
  • [1] Sagittarius A* polarization: No advection-dominated accretion flow, low accretion rate, and nonthermal synchrotron emission
    Agol, E
    [J]. ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL, 2000, 538 (02) : L121 - L124
  • [2] Aitken DK, 2000, ASTROPHYS J, V534, pL173, DOI 10.1086/312685
  • [3] The linear polarization of Sagittarius A*. II. VLA and BIMA polarimetry at 22, 43, and 86 GHz
    Bower, GC
    Wright, MCH
    Backer, DC
    Falcke, H
    [J]. ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL, 1999, 527 (02) : 851 - 855
  • [4] Variable linear polarization from Sagittarius A*: Evidence of a hot turbulent accretion flow
    Bower, GC
    Falcke, H
    Wright, MCH
    Backer, DC
    [J]. ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL, 2005, 618 (01) : L29 - L32
  • [5] Detection of the intrinsic size of Sagittarius A* through closure amplitude imaging
    Bower, GC
    Falcke, H
    Herrnstein, RM
    Zhao, JH
    Goss, WM
    Backer, DC
    [J]. SCIENCE, 2004, 304 (5671) : 704 - 708
  • [6] Interferometric detection of linear polarization from Sagittarius A* at 230 GHz
    Bower, GC
    Wright, MCH
    Falcke, H
    Backer, DC
    [J]. ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL, 2003, 588 (01) : 331 - 337
  • [7] The linear polarization of Sagittarius A*. I. VLA spectropolarimetry at 4.8 and 8.4 GHz
    Bower, GC
    Backer, DC
    Zhao, JH
    Goss, M
    Falcke, H
    [J]. ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL, 1999, 521 (02) : 582 - 586
  • [8] BIMA observations of linear polarization in Sagittarius A* at 112 GHz
    Bower, GC
    Wright, MCH
    Falcke, H
    Backer, DC
    [J]. ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL, 2001, 555 (02) : L103 - L106
  • [9] BOWER GC, 2002, BIMA MEMO, V89
  • [10] Radio linear and circular polarization from M 81
    Brunthaler, A
    Bower, GC
    Falcke, H
    [J]. ASTRONOMY & ASTROPHYSICS, 2006, 451 (03) : 845 - U39