Odin observations of ammonia in the Sgr A +50 km s-1 cloud and circumnuclear disk

Journal article, 2017

Context. The Odin satellite is now into its sixteenth year of operation, much surpassing its design life of two years. One of the sources which Odin has observed in great detail is the Sgr A complex in the centre of the Milky Way. Aims. To study the presence of NH3 in the Galactic centre and spiral arms. Methods. Recently, Odin has made complementary observations of the 572 GHz NH3 line towards the Sgr A +50 km s-1 cloud and circumnuclear disk (CND). Results. Significant NH3 emission has been observed in both the +50 km s-1 cloud and the CND. Clear NH3 absorption has also been detected in many of the spiral arm features along the line of sight from the Sun to the core of our Galaxy. Conclusions. The very large velocity width (80 km s-1) of the NH3 emission associated with the shock region in the southwestern part of the CND may suggest a formation/desorption scenario similar to that of gas-phase H2O in shocks/outflows.