Reconstruction of Stellar Orbits Close to Sagittarius A*: Possibilities for Testing General Relativity

We have constructed families of possible orbits for a collection of stars located within 0.5” of Sgr A*. These are constrained by observed stellar positions and angular proper motions as listed in Ghez et al. (1998). Reconstructing these orbits allows us to make useful predictions for the likely positions of these stars in future observations. We also show that some of these stars may exhibit significant relativistic effects, allowing for interesting possible tests of general relativity around the 2.6× 10M central object. Subject headings: black hole physics — celestial mechanics, stellar dynamics — Galaxy: center — Galaxy: kinematics and dynamics — gravitation — relativity