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Paper: Dynamics and Origins of the Young Stars in the Galactic Center
Volume: 439, The Galactic Center: a Window to the Nuclear Environment of Disk Galaxies
Page: 172
Authors: Perets, H. B.
Abstract: The environment near the massive black hole (MBH) in the Galactic center is very hostile for star formation. Nevertheless, many young stars (both O and B stars) are observed close the MBH. The B-stars seems to have an isotropic, continuous distribution between 0.01 pc and up to a pc. The O stars, in contrast, seem to be distributed in a coherent disk like configuration, extending only between ∼0.04 pc to ∼0.5 pc. Our current understanding favors an in-situ formation origin for the more massive (O and Wolf-Rayet) stars, in gaseous disk and/or streams from an infalling gas clump. The B-stars seem to have a different origin, more likely through a dynamical capture, following binary disruption by the MBH. This scenario could also be able to explain the origin of hypervelocity stars in the Galactic halo. These and other possible origins of the young stars in the Galactic center are briefly reviewed and their possible observational signatures and constraints are detailed.
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