Monitoring the close encounter between a small cloud and a supermassive BH

Earlier this year a gas cloud was discovered to be falling (accelerating)towards SgrA* and it is predicted to reach peribothron (at 2200 rS) in September2013. At a minimum, the cloudSgrA* interaction is expected to induce enhancedemission varying on timescales of months/years. However, the cloud physics andSgrA*.s close environment are not well understood. We propose 4*50ks XMMobservations to study the nearfuture evolution of the cloud. Its emissionproperties will be a sensitive probe of the characteristics of the accretionflow onto the supermassive Galactic BH, at milliparsec scales. truncated!, Please see actual data for full text [truncated!, Please see actual data for full text]