Near-infrared imaging and spectroscopy of the infrared cluster in the central parsec of the galaxy have been obtained. Very-high resolution images of IRS 16 allow an upper limit of 10 percent to be placed to the contribution to the energetics in this region by Sgr A-asterisk. However, the very blue colors of at least five components of IRS 16 suggest that they together could power the region. A deep image at 1.25 micron detects at least three of the sources bright at 10 micron, demonstrating that these objects contain self-luminous cores. Constraints on the temperatures of these cores are placed with infrared spectroscopy, and they appear to be too hot and bright in the near-infrared to be single stars. These cores may also contribute significantly to the overall luminosity of the central parsec.
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Rieke et al. (1989) studied this question.