Disruption of a massive molecular cloud by a supernova in the Galactic Centre: Initial results from the ACES project
Artikel i vetenskaplig tidskrift, 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

Författare

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-Gesellschaft

Y. Hu

Institute for Advanced Studies

I. Jimenez-Serra

Centro de Astrobiologia (CAB)

R. S. Klessen

Universität Heidelberg

J.M. Diederik Kruijssen

Technische Universität München

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, Rymd-, geo- och miljövetenskap, Astronomi och plasmafysik

J. Pineda

Institut de Ciències de l'Espai (ICE) - CSIC

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft

Víctor M. Rivilla

Centro de Astrobiologia (CAB)

A. Sanchez-Monge

Institut de Ciències de l'Espai (ICE) - CSIC

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft

Institut d'Estudis Espacials de Catalunya (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

Universita degli Studi dell'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

Universität zu Köln

Beijing University of Technology

Astronomy and Astrophysics

0004-6361 (ISSN) 1432-0746 (eISSN)

Vol. 691 A70

Opticon RadioNet Pilot

Europeiska kommissionen (EU) (EC/H2020/101004719), 2021-03-01 -- 2025-02-28.

Ämneskategorier

Astronomi, astrofysik och kosmologi

DOI

10.1051/0004-6361/202451190

Mer information

Senast uppdaterat

2024-11-19