Aims. Young, massive stars have been found at projected distances R < 0.5 pc
from supermassive black hole, Sgr A* at the center of our Galay. In recent
years, increasing evidence has been found for the presence of young, massive
stars also at R > 0.5 pc. Our goal in this work is a systematic search for
young, massive star candidates throughout the entire region within R ~ 2.5 pc
of the black hole. Methods. The main criterion for the photometric
identification of young, massive early-type stars is the lack of CO-absorption
in the spectra. We used narrow-band imaging with VLT/ISAAC to search for young,
massive stars within ~2.5 pc of Sgr A*. Results. We have found 63 early-type
star candidates at R < 2.5 pc, with an estimated erroneous identification rate
of only about 20%. Considering their K-band magnitudes and interstellar
extinction, they are candidates for Wolf-Rayet stars, supergiants, or early
O-type stars. Of these, 31 stars are so far unknown young, massive star
candidates, all of which lie at R>0.5pc. The surface number density profile of
the young, massive star candidates can be well fit by a single power-law, with
Gamma = 1.6 +- 0.17 at R < 2.5 pc, which is significantly steeper than that of
the late-type giants that make up the bulk of the observable stars in the NSC.
Intriguingly, this power-law is consistent with the power-law that describes
the surface density of young, massive stars in the same brightness range at R <
0.5 pc. Conclusions. The finding of a significant number of newly identified
early-type star candidates at the Galactic center suggests that young, massive
stars can be found throughout the entire cluster which may require us to modify
existing theories for star formation at the Galactic center. Follow-up studies
are needed to improve the existing data and lay the foundations for a unified
theory of star formation in the Milky Way's NSC.Comment: 20 pages, 11 figures, Accepted for publication in Astronomy and
Astrophysic
