Kinematics of the old stellar population at the Galactic centre

Abstract

Aims. We aim at a detailed description of the kinematic properties of the old, (several Gyrs) late-type CO-absorption star population among the Galactic centre (GC) cluster stars. This cluster is composed of a central supermassive black hole (Sgr A*) and a self-gravitating system of stars. Understanding its kinematics thus offers the opportunity to understand the dynamical interaction between a central point mass and the surrounding stars in general, especially in view of understanding other galactic nuclei.