A Three Parsec-Scale Jet-Driven Outflow from Sgr A*

The compact radio source Sgr A * is coincident with a 4×106 Mblack hole at the dynamical center of the Galaxy and is surrounded by dense orbiting ionized and molecular gas. We present high resolution radio continuum images of the central 3 ′ and report a faint continuous linear structure centered on Sgr A * with a PA ∼ 600. The extension of this feature appears to be terminated symmetrically by two linearly polarized structures at 8.4 GHz, ∼ 75′ ′ from Sgr A*. A number of weak blobs of radio emission with X-ray counterparts are detected along the axis of the linear structure. The linear structure is best characterized by a mildly relativistic jet from Sgr A * with an outflow rate 10−6 M yr−1. The near and far-sides of the jet are interacting with orbiting ionized and molecular gas over the last 1–3 hundred years and are responsible for a 2′ ′ hole, the “minicavity”, characterized by disturbed kinematics, enhanced FeII/III line emission, and diffuse X-ray gas. The estimated kinetic luminosity of the outflow is ∼ 1.2 × 1041 erg s−1, so the interaction with the bar may be responsible for the Galactic center X-ray flash inferred to be responsible for much of the fluorescent Fe Kα line emission from the inner 100pc of the Galaxy. Subject headings: accretion, accretion disks — black hole physics — Galaxy: center ar X i