Surface Brightness Profile of the Milky Way's Nuclear Star Cluster

Understand

(abridged) In this paper we aim at determining the shape, size, and luminosity/mass of the Milky Way Nuclear Star Cluster (MWNSC).

• We use Spitzer/IRAC images at 3.6 and 4.5 micrometer, where interstellar extinction is at a minimum but the overall emission is still dominated by stars.
• We correct the 4.5 micrometer image for PAH emission with the help of the IRAC 8.0 micrometer map and for extinction with the help of a [3.6-4.5] colour map.
• We present an extinction map for the central ~300x200 pc^2 of the Milky Way, as well as a PAH-emission and extinction corrected image of the stellar emission, with a resolution of about 0.2 pc.