2007/11/20 by M. Perger, J. Moultaka, A. Eckart +5 · 23 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy #Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations #Astrophysics #Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies #Galactic Center #Physics #Spiral galaxy #Star cluster #Star formation #Stars #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20078449
published in Astronomy and Astrophysics 478(1), 127-135 (EDP Sciences) · 9 pages, 8 figures. accepted by A&A
openalex publication_date 2007/11/20 · arxiv created 2007/12/19 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Aims.Mid-infrared observations of the Galactic Center show among the extended mini-spiral a number of compact sources. Their nature is of interest because they represent an interaction of luminous stars with the mini-spiral material or mass losing sources that are enshrouded in dust and gas shells. Characterizing their nature is necessary to obtain a complete picture of the different stellar populations and the star formation history of the cental stellar cluster in general. Prominent compact MIR sources in the Galactic Center are either clearly offset from the mini-spiral (e.g. the M2 super-giant IRS 7 and the bright dust enshrouded IRS 3) or have been identified earlier with bright bow shock sources (e.g. IRS 21, 1W, 10W and IRS 5). There are, however, four less prominent compact sources east of IRS 5, the natures of which were unclear until now.