Weighing the IMBH candidate CO-0.40-0.22* in the Galactic Centre

Understand

The high velocity gradient observed in the compact cloud CO-0.40-0.22, at a projected distance of 60 pc from the centre of the Milky Way, has led its discoverers to identify the closeby mm continuum emitter, CO-0.40-0.22*, with an intermediate mass black hole (IMBH) candidate.

• We describe the interaction between CO-0.40-0.22 and the IMBH, by means of a simple analytical model and of hydrodynamical simulations.
• Through such calculation, we obtain a lower limit to the mass of CO-0.40-0.22* of few $10^4 \times \; M_{\odot}$.
• This result tends to exclude the formation of such massive black hole in the proximity of the Galactic Centre.