A New View of Accretion onto Sgr A*

Over the course of 2012 we have carried out an unprecedented ~35 day observing program focused on the supermassive black hole in the center of the Galaxy, Sgr A*, using the High-Energy Transmission Grating Spectrometer (HETGS) on the Chandra X-ray observatory for the first time. This campaign, one of the new legacy class of X-ray Visionary Projects (XVPs), was carried out in concert with several other ground- and space-based facilities across the broadband spectrum. This workshop brings together the working group leaders of the Sgr A* XVP collaboration, in order to present and discuss the first XVP campaign results and their interpretation, casting new light on the accretion process around black holes. We will work together to coordinate the science output of the larger collaboration. Furthermore, the encounter of a newly discovered gas cloud "G2" with Sgr A* is predicted for next year, and we will also discuss the optimal observing strategies, in the case of significant enhancements in the accretion rate and variability.

Scientific topics: 

Accretion inflow and outflow physics, plasma diagnostics of the diffuse gas around Sgr A*, multiwavelength flares, flare emission and particle acceleration processes, high-precision very long baseline interferometric constraints on near event horizon physics, transient and point source populations in the Galactic Center, extreme magnetohydrodynamics in the presence of strong gravity.