J/A+A/609/A26ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/A+A/609/A26doi:10.26093/cds/vizier.36090026CDSGallego-Cano E.Schoedel R.Nogueras-Lara F.Gallego-Calvente A.T.,Amaro-Seoane P.Baumgardt H.2018-01-19T07:45:31Z2017-12-22T19:38:37ZCDS support team

CDS, Observatoire de Strasbourg, 11 rue de l'Universite, F-67000 Strasbourg, France

cds-question@unistra.frmilky-way-galaxyinfrared-photometryThe existence of dynamically relaxed stellar density cusp in dense clusters around massive black holes is a long-standing prediction of stellar dynamics, but it has so far escaped unambiguous observational confirmation. In this paper we revisit the problem of inferring the innermost structure of the Milky Way's nuclear star cluster via star counts, to clarify whether it displays a core or a cusp around the central black hole. We use judiciously selected adaptive optics assisted high angular resolution images obtained with the NACO instrument at the ESO VLT. Through image stacking and improved PSF fitting we push the completeness limit about one magnitude deeper than in previous, comparable work. Crowding and extinction corrections are derived and applied to the surface density estimates. Known young, and therefore dynamically not relaxed stars, are excluded from the analysis. Contrary to previous work, we analyse the stellar density in well-defined magnitude ranges in order to be able to constrain stellar masses and ages. We conclude that the observed density of the faintest stars detectable with reasonable completeness at the Galactic Centre, is consistent with the existence of a stellar cusp around the Milky Way's central black hole, Sagittarius A*.2018A&A...609A..26Ghttps://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/A+A/609/A26CatalogResearchIsServedByTAP VizieR generic servicerelated-toJ/ApJ/703/1323 : Spectroscopy of stars in Galaxy's nuclear cluster (Do+ 2009)J/A+A/511/A18 : NIR observations of stars near SgrA* (Schoedel+, 2010)https://cds.unistra.fr/vizier-org/licences_vizier.htmlhttps://vizier.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/VizieR-2?-source=J/A+A/609/A26https://vizier.iucaa.in/viz-bin/VizieR-2?-source=J/A+A/609/A26http://vizieridia.saao.ac.za/viz-bin/VizieR-2?-source=J/A+A/609/A26https://vizier.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/votable?-source=J/A+A/609/A26https://vizier.iucaa.in/viz-bin/votable?-source=J/A+A/609/A26http://vizieridia.saao.ac.za/viz-bin/votable?-source=J/A+A/609/A26GETtext/xml+votablehttps://tapvizier.cds.unistra.fr/TAPVizieR/tap7.952274030004205e-20 1.2934455535160846e-19InfrareddefaultJ/A+A/609/A26/table13*Galactic Centre stars. Pointing 4 and SF-set 1recnoRecord number assigned by the VizieR team. Should Not be used for identification.meta.recordintoffXX position offset(increasing to the East) (1)arcsecpos.eq.ra;arith.difffloatoffYY position offset (1)arcsecpos.eq.dec;arith.difffloate_offXUncertainty on X position (2)arcsecstat.errorfloate_offYUncertainty on Y position (2)arcsecstat.errorfloatKsmagKs-band magnitude (3)magphot.mag;em.IR.Kfloate_KsmagUncertainty on Ks-band magnitude (2)magstat.error;phot.mag;em.IR.KfloatHmag? H-band magnitude (3)magphot.mag;em.IR.Hfloatnullablee_Hmag? Uncertainty on H-band magnitude (2)magstat.error;phot.mag;em.IR.HfloatnullableAKExtinction in the Ks band (4)magphys.absorptionfloate_AKUncertainty on extinction in the Ks bandmagstat.errorfloatpPercentage reduction in observed stars(5)%meta.notefloatcompSource detection completeness in the Ks-imagesmagmeta.notefloatageFlag[0,1] Age Flag (0: old star, 1: young star) (6)meta.codeintJ/A+A/609/A26/table14*Galactic Centre stars. Pointing 4 and SF-set 2recnoRecord number assigned by the VizieR team. Should Not be used for identification.meta.recordintoffXX position offset(increasing to the East) (1)arcsecpos.eq.ra;arith.difffloatoffYY position offset (1)arcsecpos.eq.dec;arith.difffloate_offXUncertainty on X position (2)arcsecstat.errorfloate_offYUncertainty on Y position (2)arcsecstat.errorfloatKsmagKs-band magnitude (3)magphot.mag;em.IR.Kfloate_KsmagUncertainty on Ks-band magnitude (2)magstat.error;phot.mag;em.IR.KfloatHmag? H-band magnitude (3)magphot.mag;em.IR.Hfloatnullablee_Hmag? Uncertainty on H-band magnitude (2)magstat.error;phot.mag;em.IR.HfloatnullableAKExtinction in the Ks band (4)magphys.absorptionfloate_AKUncertainty on extinction in the Ks bandmagstat.errorfloatpPercentage reduction in observed stars(5)%meta.notefloatcompSource detection completeness in the Ks-imagesmagmeta.notefloatageFlag[0,1] Age Flag (0: old star, 1: young star) (6)meta.codeintJ/A+A/609/A26/table15*Galactic Centre stars. Pointing 4 and SF-set 3recnoRecord number assigned by the VizieR team. Should Not be used for identification.meta.recordintoffXX position offset(increasing to the East) (1)arcsecpos.eq.ra;arith.difffloatoffYY position offset (1)arcsecpos.eq.dec;arith.difffloate_offXUncertainty on X position (2)arcsecstat.errorfloate_offYUncertainty on Y position (2)arcsecstat.errorfloatKsmagKs-band magnitude (3)magphot.mag;em.IR.Kfloate_KsmagUncertainty on Ks-band magnitude (2)magstat.error;phot.mag;em.IR.KfloatHmag? H-band magnitude (3)magphot.mag;em.IR.Hfloatnullablee_Hmag? Uncertainty on H-band magnitude (2)magstat.error;phot.mag;em.IR.HfloatnullableAKExtinction in the Ks band (4)magphys.absorptionfloate_AKUncertainty on extinction in the Ks bandmagstat.errorfloatpPercentage reduction in observed stars(5)%meta.notefloatcompSource detection completeness in the Ks-imagesmagmeta.notefloatageFlag[0,1] Age Flag (0: old star, 1: young star) (6)meta.codeintJ/A+A/609/A26/table5*Galactic Centre stars. Pointing 2 and SF-set 1recnoRecord number assigned by the VizieR team. Should Not be used for identification.meta.recordintoffXX position offset(increasing to the East) (1)arcsecpos.eq.ra;arith.difffloatoffYY position offset (1)arcsecpos.eq.dec;arith.difffloate_offXUncertainty on X position (2)arcsecstat.errorfloate_offYUncertainty on Y position (2)arcsecstat.errorfloatKsmagKs-band magnitude (3)magphot.mag;em.IR.Kfloate_KsmagUncertainty on Ks-band magnitude (2)magstat.error;phot.mag;em.IR.KfloatHmag? H-band magnitude (3)magphot.mag;em.IR.Hfloatnullablee_Hmag? Uncertainty on H-band magnitude (2)magstat.error;phot.mag;em.IR.HfloatnullableAKExtinction in the Ks band (4)magphys.absorptionfloate_AKUncertainty on extinction in the Ks bandmagstat.errorfloatpPercentage reduction in observed stars(5)%meta.notefloatcompSource detection completeness in the Ks-imagesmagmeta.notefloatageFlag[0,1] Age Flag (0: old star, 1: young star) (6)meta.codeintJ/A+A/609/A26/table8*Galactic Centre stars. Pointing 2 and SF-set 4recnoRecord number assigned by the VizieR team. Should Not be used for identification.meta.recordintoffXX position offset(increasing to the East) (1)arcsecpos.eq.ra;arith.difffloatoffYY position offset (1)arcsecpos.eq.dec;arith.difffloate_offXUncertainty on X position (2)arcsecstat.errorfloate_offYUncertainty on Y position (2)arcsecstat.errorfloatKsmagKs-band magnitude (3)magphot.mag;em.IR.Kfloate_KsmagUncertainty on Ks-band magnitude (2)magstat.error;phot.mag;em.IR.KfloatHmag? H-band magnitude (3)magphot.mag;em.IR.Hfloatnullablee_Hmag? Uncertainty on H-band magnitude (2)magstat.error;phot.mag;em.IR.HfloatnullableAKExtinction in the Ks band (4)magphys.absorptionfloate_AKUncertainty on extinction in the Ks bandmagstat.errorfloatpPercentage reduction in observed stars(5)%meta.notefloatcompSource detection completeness in the Ks-imagesmagmeta.notefloatageFlag[0,1] Age Flag (0: old star, 1: young star) (6)meta.codeintJ/A+A/609/A26/tablea3*Surface density for fainter starsrecnoRecord number assigned by the VizieR team. Should Not be used for identification.meta.recordintRadProjected radius from Saggitarius A*arcsecstat.fit.paramdoubleDenNumber stellar density for late-type starsarcsec**-2meta.number;phys.densitydoublee_DenUncertainty on number stellar densityarcsec**-2stat.errordoubleJ/A+A/609/A26/table1*Galactic Centre stars. Pointing 1 and SF-set 1recnoRecord number assigned by the VizieR team. Should Not be used for identification.meta.recordintoffXX position offset(increasing to the East) (1)arcsecpos.eq.ra;arith.difffloatoffYY position offset (1)arcsecpos.eq.dec;arith.difffloate_offXUncertainty on X position (2)arcsecstat.errorfloate_offYUncertainty on Y position (2)arcsecstat.errorfloatKsmagKs-band magnitude (3)magphot.mag;em.IR.Kfloate_KsmagUncertainty on Ks-band magnitude (2)magstat.error;phot.mag;em.IR.KfloatHmag? H-band magnitude (3)magphot.mag;em.IR.Hfloatnullablee_Hmag? Uncertainty on H-band magnitude (2)magstat.error;phot.mag;em.IR.HfloatnullableAKExtinction in the Ks band (4)magphys.absorptionfloate_AKUncertainty on extinction in the Ks bandmagstat.errorfloatpPercentage reduction in observed stars(5)%meta.notefloatcompSource detection completeness in the Ks-imagesmagmeta.notefloatageFlag[0,1] Age Flag (0: old star, 1: young star) (6)meta.codeintJ/A+A/609/A26/table6*Galactic Centre stars. Pointing 2 and SF-set 2recnoRecord number assigned by the VizieR team. Should Not be used for identification.meta.recordintoffXX position offset(increasing to the East) (1)arcsecpos.eq.ra;arith.difffloatoffYY position offset (1)arcsecpos.eq.dec;arith.difffloate_offXUncertainty on X position (2)arcsecstat.errorfloate_offYUncertainty on Y position (2)arcsecstat.errorfloatKsmagKs-band magnitude (3)magphot.mag;em.IR.Kfloate_KsmagUncertainty on Ks-band magnitude (2)magstat.error;phot.mag;em.IR.KfloatHmag? H-band magnitude (3)magphot.mag;em.IR.Hfloatnullablee_Hmag? Uncertainty on H-band magnitude (2)magstat.error;phot.mag;em.IR.HfloatnullableAKExtinction in the Ks band (4)magphys.absorptionfloate_AKUncertainty on extinction in the Ks bandmagstat.errorfloatpPercentage reduction in observed stars(5)%meta.notefloatcompSource detection completeness in the Ks-imagesmagmeta.notefloatageFlag[0,1] Age Flag (0: old star, 1: young star) (6)meta.codeintJ/A+A/609/A26/table9*Galactic Centre stars. Pointing 3 and SF-set 1recnoRecord number assigned by the VizieR team. Should Not be used for identification.meta.recordintoffXX position offset(increasing to the East) (1)arcsecpos.eq.ra;arith.difffloatoffYY position offset (1)arcsecpos.eq.dec;arith.difffloate_offXUncertainty on X position (2)arcsecstat.errorfloate_offYUncertainty on Y position (2)arcsecstat.errorfloatKsmagKs-band magnitude (3)magphot.mag;em.IR.Kfloate_KsmagUncertainty on Ks-band magnitude (2)magstat.error;phot.mag;em.IR.KfloatHmag? H-band magnitude (3)magphot.mag;em.IR.Hfloatnullablee_Hmag? Uncertainty on H-band magnitude (2)magstat.error;phot.mag;em.IR.HfloatnullableAKExtinction in the Ks band (4)magphys.absorptionfloate_AKUncertainty on extinction in the Ks bandmagstat.errorfloatpPercentage reduction in observed stars(5)%meta.notefloatcompSource detection completeness in the Ks-imagesmagmeta.notefloatageFlag[0,1] Age Flag (0: old star, 1: young star) (6)meta.codeintJ/A+A/609/A26/table16*Galactic Centre stars. Pointing 4 and SF-set 4recnoRecord number assigned by the VizieR team. Should Not be used for identification.meta.recordintoffXX position offset(increasing to the East) (1)arcsecpos.eq.ra;arith.difffloatoffYY position offset (1)arcsecpos.eq.dec;arith.difffloate_offXUncertainty on X position (2)arcsecstat.errorfloate_offYUncertainty on Y position (2)arcsecstat.errorfloatKsmagKs-band magnitude (3)magphot.mag;em.IR.Kfloate_KsmagUncertainty on Ks-band magnitude (2)magstat.error;phot.mag;em.IR.KfloatHmag? H-band magnitude (3)magphot.mag;em.IR.Hfloatnullablee_Hmag? Uncertainty on H-band magnitude (2)magstat.error;phot.mag;em.IR.HfloatnullableAKExtinction in the Ks band (4)magphys.absorptionfloate_AKUncertainty on extinction in the Ks bandmagstat.errorfloatpPercentage reduction in observed stars(5)%meta.notefloatcompSource detection completeness in the Ks-imagesmagmeta.notefloatageFlag[0,1] Age Flag (0: old star, 1: young star) (6)meta.codeintJ/A+A/609/A26/tablea2*Surface density for faint starsrecnoRecord number assigned by the VizieR team. Should Not be used for identification.meta.recordintRadProjected radius from Saggitarius A*arcsecstat.fit.paramdoubleDenNumber stellar density for late-type starsarcsec**-2meta.number;phys.densitydoublee_DenUncertainty on number stellar densityarcsec**-2stat.errordoubleJ/A+A/609/A26/table2*Galactic Centre stars. Pointing 1 and SF-set 2recnoRecord number assigned by the VizieR team. Should Not be used for identification.meta.recordintoffXX position offset(increasing to the East) (1)arcsecpos.eq.ra;arith.difffloatoffYY position offset (1)arcsecpos.eq.dec;arith.difffloate_offXUncertainty on X position (2)arcsecstat.errorfloate_offYUncertainty on Y position (2)arcsecstat.errorfloatKsmagKs-band magnitude (3)magphot.mag;em.IR.Kfloate_KsmagUncertainty on Ks-band magnitude (2)magstat.error;phot.mag;em.IR.KfloatHmag? H-band magnitude (3)magphot.mag;em.IR.Hfloatnullablee_Hmag? Uncertainty on H-band magnitude (2)magstat.error;phot.mag;em.IR.HfloatnullableAKExtinction in the Ks band (4)magphys.absorptionfloate_AKUncertainty on extinction in the Ks bandmagstat.errorfloatpPercentage reduction in observed stars(5)%meta.notefloatcompSource detection completeness in the Ks-imagesmagmeta.notefloatageFlag[0,1] Age Flag (0: old star, 1: young star) (6)meta.codeintJ/A+A/609/A26/table3*Galactic Centre stars. Pointing 1 and SF-set 3recnoRecord number assigned by the VizieR team. Should Not be used for identification.meta.recordintoffXX position offset(increasing to the East) (1)arcsecpos.eq.ra;arith.difffloatoffYY position offset (1)arcsecpos.eq.dec;arith.difffloate_offXUncertainty on X position (2)arcsecstat.errorfloate_offYUncertainty on Y position (2)arcsecstat.errorfloatKsmagKs-band magnitude (3)magphot.mag;em.IR.Kfloate_KsmagUncertainty on Ks-band magnitude (2)magstat.error;phot.mag;em.IR.KfloatHmag? H-band magnitude (3)magphot.mag;em.IR.Hfloatnullablee_Hmag? Uncertainty on H-band magnitude (2)magstat.error;phot.mag;em.IR.HfloatnullableAKExtinction in the Ks band (4)magphys.absorptionfloate_AKUncertainty on extinction in the Ks bandmagstat.errorfloatpPercentage reduction in observed stars(5)%meta.notefloatcompSource detection completeness in the Ks-imagesmagmeta.notefloatageFlag[0,1] Age Flag (0: old star, 1: young star) (6)meta.codeintJ/A+A/609/A26/table7*Galactic Centre stars. Pointing 2 and SF-set 3recnoRecord number assigned by the VizieR team. Should Not be used for identification.meta.recordintoffXX position offset(increasing to the East) (1)arcsecpos.eq.ra;arith.difffloatoffYY position offset (1)arcsecpos.eq.dec;arith.difffloate_offXUncertainty on X position (2)arcsecstat.errorfloate_offYUncertainty on Y position (2)arcsecstat.errorfloatKsmagKs-band magnitude (3)magphot.mag;em.IR.Kfloate_KsmagUncertainty on Ks-band magnitude (2)magstat.error;phot.mag;em.IR.KfloatHmag? H-band magnitude (3)magphot.mag;em.IR.Hfloatnullablee_Hmag? Uncertainty on H-band magnitude (2)magstat.error;phot.mag;em.IR.HfloatnullableAKExtinction in the Ks band (4)magphys.absorptionfloate_AKUncertainty on extinction in the Ks bandmagstat.errorfloatpPercentage reduction in observed stars(5)%meta.notefloatcompSource detection completeness in the Ks-imagesmagmeta.notefloatageFlag[0,1] Age Flag (0: old star, 1: young star) (6)meta.codeintJ/A+A/609/A26/table11*Galactic Centre stars. Pointing 3 and SF-set 3recnoRecord number assigned by the VizieR team. Should Not be used for identification.meta.recordintoffXX position offset(increasing to the East) (1)arcsecpos.eq.ra;arith.difffloatoffYY position offset (1)arcsecpos.eq.dec;arith.difffloate_offXUncertainty on X position (2)arcsecstat.errorfloate_offYUncertainty on Y position (2)arcsecstat.errorfloatKsmagKs-band magnitude (3)magphot.mag;em.IR.Kfloate_KsmagUncertainty on Ks-band magnitude (2)magstat.error;phot.mag;em.IR.KfloatHmag? H-band magnitude (3)magphot.mag;em.IR.Hfloatnullablee_Hmag? Uncertainty on H-band magnitude (2)magstat.error;phot.mag;em.IR.HfloatnullableAKExtinction in the Ks band (4)magphys.absorptionfloate_AKUncertainty on extinction in the Ks bandmagstat.errorfloatpPercentage reduction in observed stars(5)%meta.notefloatcompSource detection completeness in the Ks-imagesmagmeta.notefloatageFlag[0,1] Age Flag (0: old star, 1: young star) (6)meta.codeintJ/A+A/609/A26/table12*Galactic Centre stars. Pointing 3 and SF-set 4recnoRecord number assigned by the VizieR team. Should Not be used for identification.meta.recordintoffXX position offset(increasing to the East) (1)arcsecpos.eq.ra;arith.difffloatoffYY position offset (1)arcsecpos.eq.dec;arith.difffloate_offXUncertainty on X position (2)arcsecstat.errorfloate_offYUncertainty on Y position (2)arcsecstat.errorfloatKsmagKs-band magnitude (3)magphot.mag;em.IR.Kfloate_KsmagUncertainty on Ks-band magnitude (2)magstat.error;phot.mag;em.IR.KfloatHmag? H-band magnitude (3)magphot.mag;em.IR.Hfloatnullablee_Hmag? Uncertainty on H-band magnitude (2)magstat.error;phot.mag;em.IR.HfloatnullableAKExtinction in the Ks band (4)magphys.absorptionfloate_AKUncertainty on extinction in the Ks bandmagstat.errorfloatpPercentage reduction in observed stars(5)%meta.notefloatcompSource detection completeness in the Ks-imagesmagmeta.notefloatageFlag[0,1] Age Flag (0: old star, 1: young star) (6)meta.codeintJ/A+A/609/A26/table4*Galactic Centre stars. Pointing 1 and SF-set 4recnoRecord number assigned by the VizieR team. Should Not be used for identification.meta.recordintoffXX position offset(increasing to the East) (1)arcsecpos.eq.ra;arith.difffloatoffYY position offset (1)arcsecpos.eq.dec;arith.difffloate_offXUncertainty on X position (2)arcsecstat.errorfloate_offYUncertainty on Y position (2)arcsecstat.errorfloatKsmagKs-band magnitude (3)magphot.mag;em.IR.Kfloate_KsmagUncertainty on Ks-band magnitude (2)magstat.error;phot.mag;em.IR.KfloatHmag? H-band magnitude (3)magphot.mag;em.IR.Hfloatnullablee_Hmag? Uncertainty on H-band magnitude (2)magstat.error;phot.mag;em.IR.HfloatnullableAKExtinction in the Ks band (4)magphys.absorptionfloate_AKUncertainty on extinction in the Ks bandmagstat.errorfloatpPercentage reduction in observed stars(5)%meta.notefloatcompSource detection completeness in the Ks-imagesmagmeta.notefloatageFlag[0,1] Age Flag (0: old star, 1: young star) (6)meta.codeintJ/A+A/609/A26/table10*Galactic Centre stars. Pointing 3 and SF-set 2recnoRecord number assigned by the VizieR team. Should Not be used for identification.meta.recordintoffXX position offset(increasing to the East) (1)arcsecpos.eq.ra;arith.difffloatoffYY position offset (1)arcsecpos.eq.dec;arith.difffloate_offXUncertainty on X position (2)arcsecstat.errorfloate_offYUncertainty on Y position (2)arcsecstat.errorfloatKsmagKs-band magnitude (3)magphot.mag;em.IR.Kfloate_KsmagUncertainty on Ks-band magnitude (2)magstat.error;phot.mag;em.IR.KfloatHmag? H-band magnitude (3)magphot.mag;em.IR.Hfloatnullablee_Hmag? Uncertainty on H-band magnitude (2)magstat.error;phot.mag;em.IR.HfloatnullableAKExtinction in the Ks band (4)magphys.absorptionfloate_AKUncertainty on extinction in the Ks bandmagstat.errorfloatpPercentage reduction in observed stars(5)%meta.notefloatcompSource detection completeness in the Ks-imagesmagmeta.notefloatageFlag[0,1] Age Flag (0: old star, 1: young star) (6)meta.codeintJ/A+A/609/A26/tablea1*Surface density for brighter starsrecnoRecord number assigned by the VizieR team. Should Not be used for identification.meta.recordintRadProjected radius from Saggitarius A*arcsecstat.fit.paramdoubleDenNumber stellar density for late-type starsarcsec**-2meta.number;phys.densitydoublee_DenUncertainty on number stellar densityarcsec**-2stat.errordouble