Center of Galaxy: Is it really a BH?

• PRO:

  • BH fits the observations I’ve given
  • We’re pretty sure we see supermassive BHs in centers of other galaxies

• CON:

  • Don’t see more than faint x-rays from our Galactic center!
  • Haven’t yet confirmed that mass is inside Schwarzschild radius

• COULD IT BE SOMETHING ELSE?

  • Could it be a compact cluster of massive, highly energetic stars? Not enough stars in the vicinity.
  • Analyzing orbits of stars near Galaxy center now rule out everything (we’ve thought of) but BH.

Notes: