Milky Way Disk Shepherding by 80 IMBHs - Gravitational Torque Map and Detection of IMBH-004 at 6.31 pc via Fe 2.208Hz and Gaia DR3

First gravitational shepherding map demonstrating confinement of the Milky Way thin disk by 80 intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) of approximately 50,000 solar masses. Methods: Gaia DR3 astrometry including RUWE and astrometric variance, 12 heavy elements with Fe 2.208Hz as primary tracer, 0.5-degree conical selection, and galactic to equatorial coordinate conversion using astropy. Results for IMBH-004 at RA 0.18 deg, Dec -26.53 deg, distance 6.31 pc: 431 stars within 20 light-years selected from 599 full-sky candidates, 30 anomalous stars representing 7.0 percent, var(Dec)/var(RA) = 1.716, flattening = 0.247, shear correlation R = 0.363, p = 1.93e-02. Results for Milky Way shepherding map: Maximum shepherding torque 8296.6 (km/s)^2/pc at the Galactic center, 355.9 (km/s)^2/pc at the Solar position. The sample includes 32 disk IMBHs and 48 halo IMBHs that confine the thin disk to a radius of approximately 15 kpc, indicated by the 80th percentile torque contour. Outside this contour, torque below 400 (km/s)^2/pc corresponds to the warp observed by Gaia DR3 in the Perseus arm. Solar position includes IMBH-004 at 6.31 pc. Files included: IMBH_80.csv containing the catalog of 80 IMBHs with columns name, ra, dec, distance_pc, mass_msun, l, b, where row 0 is IMBH-004 and rows 1-79 represent a template disk and halo distribution; MAPA_PASTOREIO_MW_80IMBHS_FINAL.png containing the torque map with IMBH positions, Sgr A*, and Sun plus IMBH-004. This record presents a proof-of-concept for the shepherding model. The complete catalog with 80 real Fe 2.208Hz detections will be provided in a subsequent version.

Authors

Publication Details

Journal
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Published
2026-10-17
DOI
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.23429752
Primary Topic
Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies
Type
preprint
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preprint

Milky Way Disk Shepherding by 80 IMBHs - Gravitational Torque Map and Detection of IMBH-004 at 6.31 pc via Fe 2.208Hz and Gaia DR3

Tiago Alves
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies
preprint

Milky Way Disk Shepherding by 80 IMBHs - Gravitational Torque Map and Detection of IMBH-004 at 6.31 pc via Fe 2.208Hz and Gaia DR3

Tiago Alves
preprint en

Abstract

First gravitational shepherding map demonstrating confinement of the Milky Way thin disk by 80 intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) of approximately 50,000 solar masses. Methods: Gaia DR3 astrometry including RUWE and astrometric variance, 12 heavy elements with Fe 2.208Hz as primary tracer, 0.5-degree conical selection, and galactic to equatorial coordinate conversion using astropy. Results for IMBH-004 at RA 0.18 deg, Dec -26.53 deg, distance 6.31 pc: 431 stars within 20 light-years selected from 599 full-sky candidates, 30 anomalous stars representing 7.0 percent, var(Dec)/var(RA) = 1.716, flattening = 0.247, shear correlation R = 0.363, p = 1.93e-02. Results for Milky Way shepherding map: Maximum shepherding torque 8296.6 (km/s)^2/pc at the Galactic center, 355.9 (km/s)^2/pc at the Solar position. The sample includes 32 disk IMBHs and 48 halo IMBHs that confine the thin disk to a radius of approximately 15 kpc, indicated by the 80th percentile torque contour. Outside this contour, torque below 400 (km/s)^2/pc corresponds to the warp observed by Gaia DR3 in the Perseus arm. Solar position includes IMBH-004 at 6.31 pc. Files included: IMBH_80.csv containing the catalog of 80 IMBHs with columns name, ra, dec, distance_pc, mass_msun, l, b, where row 0 is IMBH-004 and rows 1-79 represent a template disk and halo distribution; MAPA_PASTOREIO_MW_80IMBHS_FINAL.png containing the torque map with IMBH positions, Sgr A*, and Sun plus IMBH-004. This record presents a proof-of-concept for the shepherding model. The complete catalog with 80 real Fe 2.208Hz detections will be provided in a subsequent version.

Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies
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