[AGN, Quasars, Black Holes -- Invited ]
Revelations in our own backyard: Chandra's unique Galactic center
discoveries
Sera Markoff, Astronomical Institute "Anton Pannekoek", University of Amsterdam
Before the launch of Chandra, our Galactic center supermassive
black hole, Sgr A*, had never been positively identified outside the
radio bands. A great deal has changed in the last decade, starting with
the discovery that our own backyard harbors a very weak, yet clearly
active, galactic nucleus. I will review how this revelation has been a
boon for accretion studies around black holes in general, and has helped
us place our own Galaxy in context with the AGN zoology. While the focus
of my talk will be on this topic, I will also touch on how Chandra's
exquisite resolution has unveiled active star formation, entirely new
populations of faint sources and transients, as well as extreme gas
dynamics and hints of prior, more typical AGN-like activity in our
Galactic center.