| Title: |
3D CMZ. I. Central Molecular Zone Overview |
| Authors: |
Cara Battersby; Daniel L. Walker; Ashley Barnes; Adam Ginsburg; Dani Lipman; Danya Alboslani; H Perry Hatchfield; John Bally; Simon C. O. Glover; Jonathan D. Henshaw; Katharina Immer; Ralf S. Klessen; Steven N. Longmore; Elisabeth A. C. Mills; Sergio Molinari; Rowan Smith; Mattia C. Sormani; Robin G. Tress; Qizhou Zhang |
| Source: |
The Astrophysical Journal, Vol 984, Iss 2, p 156 (2025) |
| Publisher Information: |
IOP Publishing, 2025. |
| Publication Year: |
2025 |
| Collection: |
LCC:Astrophysics |
| Subject Terms: |
Galactic center; Star formation; Dust continuum emission; Far infrared astronomy; Astrophysics; QB460-466 |
| Description: |
The Central Molecular Zone (CMZ) is the largest reservoir of dense molecular gas in the Galaxy and is heavily obscured in the optical and near-IR. We present an overview of the far-IR dust continuum, where the molecular clouds are revealed, provided by Herschel in the inner 40° (∣ l ∣ < 20°) of the Milky Way with a particular focus on the CMZ. We report a total dense gas ( N (H _2 ) > 10 ^23 cm ^−2 ) CMZ mass of $\sim {2}_{-1}^{+2}\times 1{0}^{7}$ M _⊙ and confirm that there is a highly asymmetric distribution of dense gas, with about 70%–75% at positive longitudes. We create and publicly release complete fore/background-subtracted column density and dust temperature maps in the inner 40° (∣ l ∣ < 20°) of the Galaxy. We find that the CMZ clearly stands out as a distinct structure, with an average mass per longitude that is at least 3× higher than the rest of the inner Galaxy contiguously from 1 $mathop{.}limits^{unicode{x000B0}}$ 8 > ℓ > −1 $\mathop{.}\limits^{\unicode{x000B0}}$ 3. This CMZ extent is larger than previously assumed, but is consistent with constraints from velocity information. The inner Galaxy’s column density peaks towards the SgrB2 complex with a value of about 2 × 10 ^24 cm ^−2 , and typical CMZ molecular clouds are about N (H _2 ) ∼ 10 ^23 cm ^−2 . Typical CMZ dust temperatures range from ∼12–35 K with relatively little variation. We identify a ridge of warm dust in the inner CMZ that potentially traces the base of the northern Galactic outflow seen with MEERKAT. |
| Document Type: |
article |
| File Description: |
electronic resource |
| Language: |
English |
| ISSN: |
1538-4357 |
| Relation: |
https://doaj.org/toc/1538-4357 |
| DOI: |
10.3847/1538-4357/adb5f0 |
| Access URL: |
https://doaj.org/article/8e33b9cf8a7948cbbb9f1b03ced9bfd3 |
| Accession Number: |
edsdoj.8e33b9cf8a7948cbbb9f1b03ced9bfd3 |
| Database: |
Directory of Open Access Journals |