3D CMZ. I. Central Molecular Zone Overview
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 t...
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2025-01-01
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/adb5f0 |
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| author | 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 |
| author_facet | 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 |
| author_sort | Cara Battersby |
| collection | DOAJ |
| 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. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-8e33b9cf8a7948cbbb9f1b03ced9bfd3 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 1538-4357 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
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| series | The Astrophysical Journal |
| spelling | doaj-art-8e33b9cf8a7948cbbb9f1b03ced9bfd32025-08-20T02:14:07ZengIOP PublishingThe Astrophysical Journal1538-43572025-01-01984215610.3847/1538-4357/adb5f03D CMZ. I. Central Molecular Zone OverviewCara Battersby0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6073-9320Daniel L. Walker1https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7330-8856Ashley Barnes2https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0410-4504Adam Ginsburg3https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6431-9633Dani Lipman4https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5776-9473Danya Alboslani5https://orcid.org/0009-0005-9578-2192H Perry Hatchfield6https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0946-4365John Bally7https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8135-6612Simon C. O. Glover8https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6708-1317Jonathan D. Henshaw9https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9656-7682Katharina Immer10https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4140-5138Ralf S. Klessen11https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0560-3172Steven N. Longmore12https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6353-0170Elisabeth A. C. Mills13https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8782-1992Sergio Molinari14https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9826-7525Rowan Smith15https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0820-1814Mattia C. Sormani16https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6113-6241Robin G. Tress17https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9483-7164Qizhou Zhang18https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2384-6589University of Connecticut , Department of Physics, 196A Hillside Road, Unit 3046 Storrs, CT 06269-3046, USA; Center for Astrophysics ∣ Harvard & Smithsonian , MS-78, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USAUniversity of Connecticut , Department of Physics, 196A Hillside Road, Unit 3046 Storrs, CT 06269-3046, USA; UK ALMA Regional Centre Node, Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics, Oxford Road, The University of Manchester , Manchester M13 9PL, UKEuropean Southern Observatory (ESO) , Karl-Schwarzschild-Straße 2, 85748 Garching, GermanyUniversity of Florida Department of Astronomy , Bryant Space Science Center, Gainesville, FL 32611, USAUniversity of Connecticut , Department of Physics, 196A Hillside Road, Unit 3046 Storrs, CT 06269-3046, USAUniversity of Connecticut , Department of Physics, 196A Hillside Road, Unit 3046 Storrs, CT 06269-3046, USAUniversity of Connecticut , Department of Physics, 196A Hillside Road, Unit 3046 Storrs, CT 06269-3046, USA; Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology , 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109, USACASA, University of Colorado , 389-UCB, Boulder, CO 80309, USAUniversität Heidelberg , Zentrum für Astronomie, Institut für Theoretische Astrophysik, Albert-Ueberle-Str. 2, 69120 Heidelberg, GermanyAstrophysics Research Institute, Liverpool John Moores University , 146 Brownlow Hill, Liverpool L3 5RF, UK; Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie , Königstuhl 17, D-69117 Heidelberg, GermanyEuropean Southern Observatory (ESO) , Karl-Schwarzschild-Straße 2, 85748 Garching, GermanyCenter for Astrophysics ∣ Harvard & Smithsonian , MS-78, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA; Universität Heidelberg , Zentrum für Astronomie, Institut für Theoretische Astrophysik, Albert-Ueberle-Str. 2, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany; Universität Heidelberg , Interdisziplinäres Zentrum für Wissenschaftliches Rechnen, Im Neuenheimer Feld 225, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany; Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Studies at Harvard University , 10 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USAAstrophysics Research Institute, Liverpool John Moores University , 146 Brownlow Hill, Liverpool L3 5RF, UKDepartment of Physics and Astronomy, University of Kansas , 1251 Wescoe Hall Drive, Lawrence, KS 66045, USAINAF—Istituto di Astrofisica e Planetologia Spaziale , Via Fosso del Cavaliere 100, I-00133 Roma, ItalyScottish Universities Physics Alliance (SUPA), School of Physics and Astronomy, University of St Andrews , North Haugh, St Andrews KY16 9SS, UK; Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Manchester , Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, UKUniversità dell’Insubria , via Valleggio 11, 22100 Como, ItalyInstitute of Physics , Laboratory for Galaxy Evolution and Spectral Modelling, EPFL, Observatoire de Sauverny, Chemin Pegasi 51, 1290 Versoix, SwitzerlandCenter for Astrophysics ∣ Harvard & Smithsonian , MS-78, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USAThe 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.https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/adb5f0Galactic centerStar formationDust continuum emissionFar infrared astronomy |
| spellingShingle | 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 3D CMZ. I. Central Molecular Zone Overview The Astrophysical Journal Galactic center Star formation Dust continuum emission Far infrared astronomy |
| title | 3D CMZ. I. Central Molecular Zone Overview |
| title_full | 3D CMZ. I. Central Molecular Zone Overview |
| title_fullStr | 3D CMZ. I. Central Molecular Zone Overview |
| title_full_unstemmed | 3D CMZ. I. Central Molecular Zone Overview |
| title_short | 3D CMZ. I. Central Molecular Zone Overview |
| title_sort | 3d cmz i central molecular zone overview |
| topic | Galactic center Star formation Dust continuum emission Far infrared astronomy |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/adb5f0 |
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