Disruption of a massive molecular cloud by a supernova in the Galactic Centre: Initial results from the ACES project
Journal article, 2024
The Milky Way's Central Molecular Zone (CMZ) differs dramatically from our local solar neighbourhood, both in the extreme interstellar medium conditions it exhibits (e.g. high gas, stellar, and feedback density) and in the strong dynamics at play (e.g. due to shear and gas influx along the bar). Consequently, it is likely that there are large-scale physical structures within the CMZ that cannot form elsewhere in the Milky Way. In this paper, we present new results from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) large programme ACES (ALMA CMZ Exploration Survey) and conduct a multi-wavelength and kinematic analysis to determine the origin of the M0.8-0.2 ring, a molecular cloud with a distinct ring-like morphology. We estimate the projected inner and outer radii of the M0.8-0.2 ring to be 79′′ and 154′′, respectively (3.1 pc and 6.1 pc at an assumed Galactic Centre distance of 8.2 kpc) and calculate a mean gas density >104 cm-3, a mass of ∼106 M⊙, and an expansion speed of ∼20 km s-1, resulting in a high estimated kinetic energy (>1051 erg) and momentum (>107 M⊙ km s-1). We discuss several possible causes for the existence and expansion of the structure, including stellar feedback and large-scale dynamics. We propose that the most likely cause of the M0.8-0.2 ring is a single high-energy hypernova explosion. To viably explain the observed morphology and kinematics, such an explosion would need to have taken place inside a dense, very massive molecular cloud, the remnants of which we now see as the M0.8-0.2 ring. In this case, the structure provides an extreme example of how supernovae can affect molecular clouds.
ISM: bubbles
ISM: clouds
ISM: kinematics and dynamics
Galaxy: center
ISM: supernova remnants
Author
M. Nonhebel
University of St Andrews
European Southern Observatory (ESO)
Ashley T. Barnes
European Southern Observatory (ESO)
K. Immer
European Southern Observatory (ESO)
Jairo Armijos-Abendaño
Cardiff University
Escuela Politécnica Nacional
J. Bally
University of Colorado at Boulder
C. Battersby
University of Connecticut
M. G. Burton
Armagh Observatory and Planetarium
Natalie Butterfield
National Radio Astronomy Observatory
L. Colzi
Centro de Astrobiologia (CAB)
P. García
Universidad Catolica del Norte
Chinese Academy of Sciences South America Center for Astronomy
A. Ginsburg
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Jonathan D. Henshaw
Liverpool John Moores University
Max Planck Society
Y. Hu
Institute for Advanced Studies
I. Jimenez-Serra
Centro de Astrobiologia (CAB)
R. S. Klessen
Heidelberg University
J.M. Diederik Kruijssen
Technical University of Munich
Cosmic Origins of Life (COOL) Research DAO
F. H. Liang
University of Oxford
European Southern Observatory (ESO)
S. Longmore
Liverpool John Moores University
X. Lu
Shanghai Astronomical Observatory
S. Martin
European Southern Observatory Santiago
Atacama Large Millimeter-submillimeter Array (ALMA)
E. A. C. Mills
University of Kansas
Francisco Nogueras-Lara
European Southern Observatory (ESO)
Maya Petkova
Chalmers, Space, Earth and Environment, Astronomy and Plasmaphysics
J. Pineda
Institute of Space Sciences (ICE) - CSIC
Max Planck Society
Víctor M. Rivilla
Centro de Astrobiologia (CAB)
A. Sanchez-Monge
Institute of Space Sciences (ICE) - CSIC
Max Planck Society
Institute of Space Studies of Catalonia (IEEC)
Miriam G. Santa-Maria
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
H. A. Smith
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Y. Sofue
University of Tokyo
Mattia C. Sormani
University of Insubria
V. Tolls
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
D. L. Walker
University of Manchester
J. Wallace
University of Connecticut
Q. D. Wang
University of Massachusetts
G. M. Williams
Aberystwyth University
Feng Wei Xu
University of Cologne
Beijing University of Technology
Astronomy and Astrophysics
0004-6361 (ISSN) 1432-0746 (eISSN)
Vol. 691 A70Opticon RadioNet Pilot
European Commission (EC) (EC/H2020/101004719), 2021-03-01 -- 2025-02-28.
Subject Categories
Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology
DOI
10.1051/0004-6361/202451190