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Mark R. Morris

Publications and source records attributed to Mark R. Morris.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

X-rays from a Central "Exhaust Vent" of the Galactic Center Chimney

Using deep archival observations from the Chandra X-ray Observatory, we present an analysis of linear X-ray-emitting features located within the southern portion of the Galactic center chimney, and oriented orthogonal to the Galactic plane, centered at coordinates l = 0.08 deg, b = -1.42 deg. The surface brightness and hardness ratio patterns are suggestive of a cylindrical morphology which may have been produced by a plasma outflow channel extending from the Galactic center. Our fits of the feature's spectra favor a complex two-component model consisting of thermal and recombining plasma components, possibly a sign of shock compression or heating of the interstellar medium by outflowing material. Assuming a recombining plasma scenario, we further estimate the cooling timescale of this plasma to be on the order of a few hundred to thousands of years, leading us to speculate that a sequence of accretion events onto the Galactic Black Hole may be a plausible quasi-continuous energy source to sustain the observed morphology.

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Near-Infrared Flux Distribution of Sgr A* from 2005-2022: Evidence for an Enhanced Accretion Episode in 2019

Sgr A* is the variable electromagnetic source associated with accretion onto the Galactic center supermassive black hole. While the near-infrared (NIR) variability of Sgr A* was shown to be consistent over two decades, unprecedented activity in 2019 challenges existing statistical models. We investigate the origin of this activity by re-calibrating and re-analyzing all of our Keck Observatory Sgr A* imaging observations from 2005-2022. We present light curves from 69 observation epochs using the NIRC2 imager at 2.12 $μ$m with laser guide star adaptive optics. These observations reveal that the mean luminosity of Sgr A* increased by a factor of $\sim$3 in 2019, and the 2019 light curves had higher variance than in all time periods we examined. We find that the 2020-2022 flux distribution is statistically consistent with the historical sample and model predictions, but with fewer bright measurements above 0.6 mJy at the $\sim$2$σ$ level. Since 2019, we have observed a maximum $K_s$ (2.2 $μ$m) flux of 0.9 mJy, compared to the highest pre-2019 flux of 2.0 mJy and highest 2019 flux of 5.6 mJy. Our results suggest that the 2019 activity was caused by a temporary accretion increase onto Sgr A*, possibly due to delayed accretion of tidally-stripped gas from the gaseous object G2 in 2014. We also examine faint Sgr A* fluxes over a long time baseline to search for a quasi-steady quiescent state. We find that Sgr A* displays flux variations over a factor of $\sim$500, with no evidence for a quiescent state in the NIR.

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Chandra X-ray Measurement of Gas-phase Heavy Element Abundances in the Central Parsec of the Galaxy

Elemental abundances are key to our understanding of star formation and evolution in the Galactic center. Previous work on this topic has been based on infrared (IR) observations, but X-ray observations have the potential of constraining the abundance of heavy elements, mainly through their K-shell emission lines. Using 5.7 Ms Chandra observations, we provide the first abundance measurement of Si, S, Ar, Ca and Fe, in four prominent diffuse X-ray features located in the central parsec of the Galaxy, which are the manifestation of shock-heated hot gas. A two-temperature, non-equilibrium ionization spectral model is employed to derive the abundances of these five elements. In this procedure, a degeneracy is introduced due to uncertainties in the composition of light elements, in particular, H, C and N. Assuming that the hot gas is H-depleted but C- and N-enriched, as would be expected for a standard scenario in which the hot gas is dominated by Wolf-Rayet star winds, the spectral fit finds a generally subsolar abundance for the heavy elements. If, instead, the light elements had a solar-like abundance, the heavy elements have a fitted abundance of $\sim$1--2 solar. The $α$/Fe abundance ratio, on the other hand, is mostly supersolar and insensitive to the exact composition of the light elements. These results are robust against potential biases due to either a moderate spectral S/N or the presence of non-thermal components. Implications of the measured abundances for the Galactic center environment are addressed.

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The Galactic Black Hole

The black hole at the center of our Milky Way Galaxy -- the Galactic Black Hole, or GBH -- is a rather modest representative of its class. With a mass of 4 x 10^6 solar masses, it is well over a thousand times less massive than the most extreme supermassive black holes known to be powering the most luminous quasars. Furthermore, the Galactic Black Hole has a remarkably dim accretion flow, and its luminous energy output is overwhelmed by the dense cluster of bright stars and red giants that surround it, except at radio wavelengths. However, the proximity of the GBH compensates for its restrained activity; being over 100 times closer than the next nearest supermassive black hole in a galactic nucleus, it offers us an unparalleled opportunity to observe its behavior in detail. Consequently, far more observational attention has been paid to the GBH and its entourage of stars and gas than to any other single object outside the solar system. This review covers the history of our recognition of the GBH, its presently known physical characteristics, the manifestations of its current and past activity, and the prospects for refining our knowledge with future research.

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Discovery of periodicities in two highly variable intermediate polars towards the Galactic Center

We discovered Fe $K_α$ complex emission and pulsation in two highly variable sources (4XMM J174917.7--283329, 4XMM J174954.6--294336). The equivalent widths of 6.4 and 6.7 keV lines of 4XMM J174917.7--283329 are $99^{+84}_{-72}$ and $220^{+160}_{-140}$ eV, respectively. The continuum is fitted by a partially absorbed apec model with plasma temperature of $kT=13^{+10}_{-2}$ keV. The inferred mass of the white dwarf (WD) is $0.9^{+0.3}_{-0.2}\ M_{\odot}$. We detected pulsations with a period of $1212\pm3$ s and a pulsed fraction of $26\pm6\%$. The light curves of 4XMM J174954.6--294336 display asymmetric eclipse and dipping behaviour. To date, this is only the second intermediate polar (IP) that shows a total eclipse in X-rays. The spectrum of the sources is characterized by a power-law model with photon index $Γ=0.4\pm0.2$. The equivalent widths of the 6.4 keV and 6.7 keV iron lines are $171^{+99}_{-79}$ and $136^{+89}_{-81}$ eV, respectively. The continuum is described by emission from optically thin plasma with a temperature of $kT\sim35$ keV. The inferred mass of the WD is $1.1^{+0.2}_{-0.3}\ M_{\odot}$. We discovered coherent pulsations from the source with a period of $1002\pm2$ s. The pulsed fraction is $66\pm15\%$. The measured spin period, hard photon index, and equivalent width of the fluorescent Fe $K_α$ line in both sources are consistent with the values found in IP. While 4XMM J174954.6--294336 was already previously classified as an IP, we also suggest 4XMM J174917.7--283329 as a new IP. The X-ray eclipses in 4XMM J174954.6--294336 are most likely caused by a low-mass companion star obscuring the central X-ray source. The asymmetry in the eclipse is likely caused by a thick bulge that intercepts the line of sight during the ingress phase but not during the egress phase located behind the WD along the line of sight.

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The Inner 2 pc of Sagittarius A*: Simulations of the Circumnuclear Disk and Multiphase Gas Accretion in the Galactic Center

We present hydrodynamic simulations of the inner few parsecs of the Milky Way's Galactic Center that, for the first time, combine a realistic treatment of stellar winds and the circumnuclear disk as they interact with the gravitational potential of the nuclear star cluster and Sagittarius~A*. We observe a complex interaction of the stellar winds with the inner edge of the circumnuclear disk, which leads to the growth of instabilities, induced accretion of cool gas from the inner edge of the disk, and the eventual formation of a small accretion disk of $\sim 10^4-10^5$ K within $r \sim 0.1$ pc.

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The Swansong of the Galactic Center Source X7: An Extreme Example of Tidal Evolution near the Supermassive Black Hole

We present two decades of new high-angular-resolution near-infrared data from the W. M. Keck Observatory that reveal extreme evolution in X7, an elongated dust and gas feature, presently located half an arcsecond from the Galactic Center supermassive black hole. With both spectro-imaging observations of Br-γ line-emission and Lp (3.8 μm) imaging data, we provide the first estimate of its orbital parameters and quantitative characterization of the evolution of its morphology and mass. We find that the leading edge of X7 appears to be on a mildly eccentric (e~0.3), relatively short-period (170 years) orbit and is headed towards periapse passage, estimated to occur in ~2036. Furthermore, our kinematic measurements rule out the earlier suggestion that X7 is associated with the stellar source S0-73 or with any other point source that has overlapped with X7 during our monitoring period. Over the course of our observations, X7 has (1) become more elongated, with a current length-to-width ratio of 9, (2) maintained a very consistent long-axis orientation (position angle of 50 deg), (3) inverted its radial velocity differential from tip to tail from -50 to +80 km/sec, and (4) sustained its total brightness (12.8 Lp magnitudes at the leading edge) and color temperature (425 K), which suggest a constant mass of ~50 MEarth. We present a simple model showing that these results are compatible with the expected effect of tidal forces exerted on it by the central black hole and we propose that X7 is the gas and dust recently ejected from a grazing collision in a binary system.

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The Star Formation History of the Milky Way's Nuclear Star Cluster

We report the first star formation history study of the Milky Way's nuclear star cluster (NSC) that includes observational constraints from a large sample of stellar metallicity measurements. These metallicity measurements were obtained from recent surveys from Gemini and VLT of 770 late-type stars within the central 1.5 pc. These metallicity measurements, along with photometry and spectroscopically derived temperatures, are forward modeled with a Bayesian inference approach. Including metallicity measurements improves the overall fit quality, as the low-temperature red giants that were previously difficult to constrain are now accounted for, and the best fit favors a two-component model. The dominant component contains 93%$\pm$3% of the mass, is metal-rich ($\overline{[M/H]}\sim$0.45), and has an age of 5$^{+3}_{-2}$ Gyr, which is $\sim$3 Gyr younger than earlier studies with fixed (solar) metallicity; this younger age challenges co-evolutionary models in which the NSC and supermassive black holes formed simultaneously at early times. The minor population component has low metallicity ($\overline{[M/H]}\sim$ -1.1) and contains $\sim$7% of the stellar mass. The age of the minor component is uncertain (0.1 - 5 Gyr old). Using the estimated parameters, we infer the following NSC stellar remnant population (with $\sim$18% uncertainty): 1.5$\times$10$^5$ neutron stars, 2.5$\times$10$^5$ stellar mass black holes (BHs) and 2.2$\times$10$^4$ BH-BH binaries. These predictions result in 2-4 times fewer neutron stars compared to earlier predictions that assume solar metallicity, introducing a possible new path to understand the so-called "missing pulsar problem". Finally, we present updated predictions for the BH-BH merger rates (0.01-3 Gpc$^{-3}$yr$^{-1}$).

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The ALMA2030 Wideband Sensitivity Upgrade

The Wideband Sensitivity Upgrade (WSU) is the top priority initiative for the ALMA2030 Development Roadmap. The WSU will initially double, and eventually quadruple, ALMA's system bandwidth and will deliver improved sensitivity by upgrading the receivers, digital electronics and correlator. The WSU will afford significant improvements for every future ALMA observation, whether it is for continuum or spectral line science. The continuum imaging speed will increase by a factor of 3 for the 2x bandwidth upgrade, plus any gains from improved receiver temperatures. The spectral line imaging speed will improve by a factor of 2-3. The improvements provided by the WSU will be most dramatic for high spectral resolution observations, where the instantaneous bandwidth correlated at 0.1-0.2 km/s resolution will increase by 1-2 orders of magnitude in most receiver bands. The improved sensitivity and spectral tuning grasp will open new avenues of exploration and enable more efficient observations. The impact will span the vast array of topics that embodies ALMA's motto "In Search of our Cosmic Origins". The WSU will greatly expand the chemical inventory of protoplanetary disks, which will have profound implications for how and when planets form. Observations of the interstellar medium will measure a variety of molecular species to build large samples of clouds, cores and protostars. The WSU will also enable efficient surveys of galaxies at high redshift. The first elements of the WSU will be available later this decade, including a wideband Band 2 receiver, a wideband upgrade to Band 6, new digitizers and digital transmission system, and a new correlator. Other upgrades are under study, including the newly developed ACA spectrometer and upgrades to Bands 9 and 10. The gains enabled by the WSU will further enhance ALMA as the world leading facility for millimeter/submillimeter astronomy. [Abridged]

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Nested Dust Shells around the Wolf-Rayet Binary WR 140 observed with JWST

Massive colliding-wind binaries that host a Wolf-Rayet (WR) star present a potentially important source of dust and chemical enrichment in the interstellar medium (ISM). However, the chemical composition and survival of dust formed from such systems is not well understood. The carbon-rich WR (WC) binary WR~140 presents an ideal astrophysical laboratory for investigating these questions given its well-defined orbital period and predictable dust-formation episodes every 7.93 years around periastron passage. We present observations from our Early Release Science program (ERS1349) with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) Medium-Resolution Spectrometer (MRS) and Imager that reveal the spectral and spatial signatures of nested circumstellar dust shells around WR~140. MIRI MRS spectroscopy of the second dust shell and Imager detections of over 17 shells formed throughout the past $\gtrsim130$ years confirm the survival of carbonaceous dust grains from WR~140 that are likely carriers of "unidentified infrared" (UIR)-band features at 6.4 and 7.7 $μ$m. The observations indicate that dust-forming WC binaries can enrich the ISM with organic compounds and carbonaceous dust.

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A VLA Study of Newly-Discovered Southern Latitude Non-Thermal Filaments in the Galactic Center: Radio Continuum Total-intensity and Spectral Index Properties

The non-thermal filament (NTF) radio structures clustered within a few hundred parsecs of the Galactic Center (GC) are apparently unique to this region of the Galaxy. Recent radio images of the GC using MeerKAT at 1 GHz have revealed a multitude of faint, previously unknown NTF bundles (NTFBs), some of which are comprised of as many as 10 or more individual filaments. In this work we present Very Large Array (VLA) observations at C- and X-bands (4 - 12 GHz) at arcsecond-scale resolutions of three of these newly-discovered NTFBs, all located at southern Galactic latitudes. These observations allow us to compare their total-intensity properties with those of the larger NTF population. We find that these targets generally possess properties similar to what is observed in the larger NTF population. However, the larger NTF population generally has steeper spectral index values than what we observe for our chosen targets. The results presented here based on the total-intensity properties of these structures indicate that the NTFs are likely all formed from Cosmic Rays (CRs). These CRs are either generated by a nearby compact source and then diffuse along the NTF lengths or are generated by extended, magnetized structures whose magnetic field undergoes reconnection with the NTF magnetic field.

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Evidence for an interaction between the Galactic Center clouds M0.10-0.08 and M0.11-0.11

We present high-resolution (~2-3"; ~0.1 pc) radio observations of the Galactic center cloud M0.10-0.08 using the Very Large Array at K and Ka band (~25 and 36 GHz). The M0.10-0.08 cloud is located in a complex environment near the Galactic center Radio Arc and the adjacent M0.11-0.11 molecular cloud. From our data, M0.10-0.08 appears to be a compact molecular cloud (~3 pc) that contains multiple compact molecular cores (5+; <0.4 pc). In this study we detect a total of 15 molecular transitions in M0.10-0.08 from the following molecules: NH3, HC3N, CH3OH, HC5N, CH3CN, and OCS. We have identified more than sixty 36 GHz CH3OH masers in M0.10-0.08 with brightness temperatures above 400 K and 31 maser candidates with temperatures between 100-400 K. We conduct a kinematic analysis of the gas using NH3 and detect multiple velocity components towards this region of the Galactic center. The bulk of the gas in this region has a velocity of 51.5 km/s (M0.10-0.08) with a lower velocity wing at 37.6 km/s. We also detect a relatively faint velocity component at 10.6 km/s that we attribute to being an extension of the M0.11-0.11 cloud. Analysis of the gas kinematics, combined with past X-ray fluorescence observations, suggests M0.10-0.08 and M0.11-0.11 are located in the same vicinity of the Galactic center and could be physically interacting.

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Measuring the Orbits of the Arches and Quintuplet Clusters using HST and Gaia: Exploring Scenarios for Star Formation Near the Galactic Center

We present new absolute proper motion measurements for the Arches and Quintuplet clusters, two young massive star clusters near the Galactic center. Using multi-epoch HST observations, we construct proper motion catalogs for the Arches ($\sim$35,000 stars) and Quintuplet ($\sim$40,000 stars) fields in ICRF coordinates established using stars in common with the Gaia EDR3 catalog. The bulk proper motions of the clusters are measured to be ($μ_{α*}$, $μ_δ$) = (-0.80 $\pm$ 0.032, -1.89 $\pm$ 0.021) mas/yr for the Arches and ($μ_{α*}$, $μ_δ$) = (-0.96 $\pm$ 0.032, -2.29 $\pm$ 0.023) mas/yr for the Quintuplet, achieving $\sim$5x higher precision than past measurements. We place the first constraints on the properties of the cluster orbits that incorporate the uncertainty in their current line-of-sight distances. The clusters will not approach closer than $\sim$25 pc to SgrA*, making it unlikely that they will inspiral into the Nuclear Star Cluster within their lifetime. Further, the cluster orbits are not consistent with being circular; the average value of r$_{apo}$ / r$_{peri}$ is $\sim$1.9 (equivalent to eccentricity of $\sim$0.31) for both clusters. Lastly, we find that the clusters do not share a common orbit, challenging one proposed formation scenario in which the clusters formed from molecular clouds on the open stream orbit derived by Kruijssen et al. (2015). Meanwhile, our constraints on the birth location and velocity of the clusters offer mild support for a scenario in which the clusters formed via collisions between gas clouds on the x1 and x2 bar orbit families.

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Regularized 3D spectroscopy with CubeFit: method and application to the Galactic Center Circumnuclear disk

The Galactic Center black hole and the nuclear star cluster are surrounded by a clumpy ring of gas and dust (the circumnuclear disk, CND) that rotates about them at a standoff distance of ~1.5 pc. The mass and density of individual clumps in the CND are disputed. We seek to use H$_2$ to characterize the clump size distribution and to investigate the morphology and dynamics of the interface between the ionized interior layer of the CND and the molecular reservoir lying further out (corresponding to the inner rim of the CND, illuminated in ultraviolet light by the central star cluster). We have observed two fields of approximately 20"x20" in the CND at near-infrared wavelengths with the OSIRIS spectro-imager at the Keck Observatory. These two fields, located at the approaching and receding nodes of the CND, best display this interface. Our data cover two H$_2$ lines as well as the Br$γ$ line (tracing H ii). We have developed the tool CubeFit, an original method to extract maps of continuous physical parameters (such as velocity field and velocity dispersion) from integral-field spectroscopy data, using regularization to largely preserve spatial resolution in regions of low signal-to-noise ratio. This original method enables us to isolate compact, bright features in the interstellar medium of the CND. Several clumps in the southwestern field assume the appearance of filaments, many of which are parallel to each other. We conclude that these clumps cannot be self-gravitating.

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Detection of a dense group of hyper-compact radio sources in the central parsec of the Galaxy

Using the JVLA, we explored the Galactic center (GC) with a resolution of 0.05" at 33.0 and 44.6 GHz. We detected 64 hyper-compact radio sources (HCRs) in the central parsec. The dense group of HCRs can be divided into three spectral types: 38 steep-spectrum ($α\le-0.5$) sources; 10 flat-spectrum ($-0.5<α\le0.2$) sources; and 17 inverted-spectrum sources having $α>0.2$, assuming $S\proptoν^α$. The steep-spectrum HCRs are likely represent a population of massive stellar remnants associated with nonthermal compact radio sources powered by neutron stars and stellar black holes. The surface-density distribution of the HCRs as function of radial distance ($R$) from Sgr~A* can be described as a steep power-law $Σ(R) \propto R^{-Γ}$, with $Γ=1.6\pm0.2$, along with presence of a localized order-of-magnitude enhancement in the range 0.1-0.3 pc. The steeper profile of the HCRs relative to that of the central cluster might result from the concentration massive stellar remnants by mass segregation at the GC. The GC magnetar SGR~J1745-2900 belongs to the inverted-spectrum sub-sample. We find that two spectral components present in the averaged radio spectrum of SGR~J1745-2900, separated at $ν\sim30$ GHz. The centimeter-component is fitted to a power-law with $α_{cm}=-1.5\pm0.6$. The enhanced millimeter-component shows a rising spectrum $α_{mm}=1.1\pm0.2$. Based on the ALMA observations at 225 GHz, we find that the GC magnetar is highly variable on a day-to-day time scale, showing variations up to a factor of 6. Further JVLA and ALMA observations of the variability, spectrum, and polarization of the HCRs are critical for determining whether they are associated with stellar remnants.

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Analyzing the Intrinsic Magnetic Field in the Galactic Center Radio Arc

The Radio Arc is a system of organized non-thermal filaments (NTFs) located within the Galactic Center (GC) region of the Milky Way. Recent observations of the Radio Arc NTFs revealed a magnetic field which alternates between being parallel and rotated with respect to the orientation of the filaments. This pattern is in stark contrast to the predominantly parallel magnetic field orientations observed in other GC NTFs. To help elucidate the origin of this pattern, we analyze spectro-polarimetric data of the Radio Arc NTFs using an Australian Telescope Compact Array data set covering the continuous frequency range from $\sim$4 to 11 GHz at a spectral resolution of 2 MHz. We fit depolarization models to the spectral polarization data to characterize Faraday effects along the line-of-sight. We assess whether structures local to the Radio Arc NTFs may contribute to the unusual magnetic field orientation. External Faraday effects are identified as the most likely origin of the rotation observed for the Radio Arc NTFs; however, internal Faraday effects are also found to be likely in regions of parallel magnetic field. The increased likelihood of internal Faraday effects in parallel magnetic field regions may be attributed to the effects of structures local to the GC. One such structure could be the Radio Shell local to the Radio Arc NTFs. Future studies are needed to determine whether this alternating magnetic field pattern is present in other multi-stranded NTFs, or is a unique property resulting from the complex interstellar region local to the Radio Arc NTFs.

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Effects of turbulence in the Circumnuclear Disk

A Circumnuclear Disk (CND) of molecular gas occupies the central few parsecs of the Galactic Center. It is likely subject to turbulent disruptions from violent events in its surrounding environment, but the effect of such perturbations has not yet been investigated in detail. Here we perform 3D, N-body/smoothed particle hydrodynamic (SPH) simulations with an adapted general turbulence driving method to investigate the CND's structural evolution, in particular its reaction to varied scales of injected turbulence. We find that, because of shear flow in the disk, transient arcs of gas (streams) naturally arise when turbulence is driven on large scales (up to ~4 pc), as might occur when a supernova blast wave encounters the CND. Because energetic events arise naturally and often in the central parsecs of our Galaxy, this result suggests that the transient structures that characterize the CND do not imply that the CND itself is a transient structure. We also note that features similar to the density concentrations, or "clumps", detailed in literature emerge when we account for the observed orientation of the disk and for the spatial resolution of observations. As such, clumps could be an artifact of observational limitations.

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Rapid Variability of Sgr A* across the Electromagnetic Spectrum

Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*) is the variable radio, near-infrared (NIR), and X-ray source associated with accretion onto the Galactic center black hole. We have analyzed a comprehensive submillimeter (including new observations simultaneous with NIR monitoring), NIR, and 2-8 keV dataset. Submillimeter variations tend to lag those in the NIR by $\sim$30 minutes. An approximate Bayesian computation (ABC) fit to the X-ray first-order structure function shows significantly less power at short timescales in the X-rays than in the NIR. Less X-ray variability at short timescales combined with the observed NIR-X-ray correlations means the variability can be described as the result of two strictly correlated stochastic processes, the X-ray process being the low-pass-filtered version of the NIR process. The NIR--X-ray linkage suggests a simple radiative model: a compact, self-absorbed synchrotron sphere with high-frequency cutoff close to NIR frequencies plus a synchrotron self-Compton scattering component at higher frequencies. This model, with parameters fit to the submillimeter, NIR, and X-ray structure functions, reproduces the observed flux densities at all wavelengths, the statistical properties of all light curves, and the time lags between bands. The fit also gives reasonable values for physical parameters such as magnetic flux density $B\approx13$ G, source size $L \approx2.2R_{S}$, and high-energy electron density $n_{e}\approx4\times10^{7}$ cm$^{-3}$. An animation illustrates typical light curves, and we make public the parameter chain of our Bayesian analysis, the model implementation, and the visualization code.

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