scholarly journals Spectral Line Observations of the Galactic Centre Region

1977 ◽  
Vol 45 ◽  
pp. 119-120
Author(s):  
R. D. Davies ◽  
R. J. Cohen

An investigation of the central regions of the Galaxy has been made with an angular resolution of ~10 arcmin with the radio telescopes at Jodrell Bank using the spectral lines of HI (λ21 cm), OH (λ18 cm) and H2CO (λ6 cm). Observations of radio recombination lines in the range (λ21 to 125 cm) have also been taken. These data taken together provide information on the velocity field and gas distribution in the galactic centre region. A continuing programme of spectral line observations of the galactic centre is being pursued at Jodrell Bank.

1967 ◽  
Vol 31 ◽  
pp. 239-251 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. J. Kerr

A review is given of information on the galactic-centre region obtained from recent observations of the 21-cm line from neutral hydrogen, the 18-cm group of OH lines, a hydrogen recombination line at 6 cm wavelength, and the continuum emission from ionized hydrogen.Both inward and outward motions are important in this region, in addition to rotation. Several types of observation indicate the presence of material in features inclined to the galactic plane. The relationship between the H and OH concentrations is not yet clear, but a rough picture of the central region can be proposed.


2021 ◽  
Vol 502 (1) ◽  
pp. 1246-1252
Author(s):  
M Zoccali ◽  
E Valenti ◽  
F Surot ◽  
O A Gonzalez ◽  
A Renzini ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT We analyse the near-infrared colour–magnitude diagram of a field including the giant molecular cloud G0.253+0.016 (a.k.a. The Brick) observed at high spatial resolution, with HAWK-I@VLT. The distribution of red clump stars in a line of sight crossing the cloud, compared with that in a direction just beside it, and not crossing it, allow us to measure the distance of the cloud from the Sun to be 7.20, with a statistical uncertainty of ±0.16 and a systematic error of ±0.20 kpc. This is significantly closer than what is generally assumed, i.e. that the cloud belongs to the near side of the central molecular zone, at 60 pc from the Galactic centre. This assumption was based on dynamical models of the central molecular zone, observationally constrained uniquely by the radial velocity of this and other clouds. Determining the true position of the Brick cloud is relevant because this is the densest cloud of the Galaxy not showing any ongoing star formation. This puts the cloud off by one order of magnitude from the Kennicutt–Schmidt relation between the density of the dense gas and the star formation rate. Several explanations have been proposed for this absence of star formation, most of them based on the dynamical evolution of this and other clouds, within the Galactic centre region. Our result emphasizes the need to include constraints coming from stellar observations in the interpretation of our Galaxy’s central molecular zone.


2019 ◽  
Vol 623 ◽  
pp. A29 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Falstad ◽  
F. Hallqvist ◽  
S. Aalto ◽  
S. König ◽  
S. Muller ◽  
...  

Context. Understanding the nuclear growth and feedback processes in galaxies requires investigating their often obscured central regions. One way to do this is to use (sub)millimeter line emission from vibrationally excited HCN (HCN-vib), which is thought to trace warm and highly enshrouded galaxy nuclei. It has been suggested that the most intense HCN-vib emission from a galaxy is connected to a phase of nuclear growth that occurs before the nuclear feedback processes have been fully developed. Aims. We aim to investigate if there is a connection between the presence of strong HCN-vib emission and the development of feedback in (ultra)luminous infrared galaxies ((U)LIRGs). Methods. We collected literature and archival data to compare the luminosities of rotational lines of HCN-vib, normalized to the total infrared luminosity, to the median velocities of 119 μm OH absorption lines, potentially indicating outflows, in a total of 17 (U)LIRGs. Results. The most HCN-vib luminous systems all lack signatures of significant molecular outflows in the far-infrared OH absorption lines. However, at least some of the systems with bright HCN-vib emission have fast and collimated outflows that can be seen in spectral lines at longer wavelengths, including in millimeter emission lines of CO and HCN (in its vibrational ground state) and in radio absorption lines of OH. Conclusions. We conclude that the galaxy nuclei with the highest LHCN − vib/LIR do not drive wide-angle outflows that are detectable using the median velocities of far-infrared OH absorption lines. This is possibly because of an orientation effect in which sources oriented in such a way that their outflows are not along our line of sight also radiate a smaller proportion of their infrared luminosity in our direction. It could also be that massive wide-angle outflows destroy the deeply embedded regions responsible for bright HCN-vib emission, so that the two phenomena cannot coexist. This would strengthen the idea that vibrationally excited HCN traces a heavily obscured stage of evolution before nuclear feedback mechanisms are fully developed.


1998 ◽  
Vol 179 ◽  
pp. 221-222
Author(s):  
D. K. Ojha ◽  
O. Bienaymé ◽  
A. C. Robin

We have carried out a sample survey in UBVR photometry and proper motions in various directions in the Galaxy. Three fields in the direction of galactic anticentre, centre, and antirotation have been surveyed. Using our new data together with wide-area surveys in other fields available to date, we discuss the radial and vertical structure of the Galaxy. Our results confirm that the thick disk population is distinct from other populations based on their kinematical and spatial distribution. The most probable value of scale height for the thick disk component is determined to be hz≃760±50 pc and a local density of ≃7.4+2.5−1.5% relative to the thin disk. The ratio of the number of thick disk stars in our galactic centre region to that in anticentre region yield hR≃3±1 kpc for the scale length of thick disk. These values are in perfect agreement with the recent determination given by Robin et al. (1996).


1996 ◽  
Vol 169 ◽  
pp. 311-316
Author(s):  
P.J. Boyce ◽  
R. J. Cohen

The galactic centre contains the largest concentration of molecular clouds in the Galaxy. The clouds in the central region are unusual in having large linewidths and masses, and large non-circular motions. Previous surveys of their distribution in the central region have been carried out in OH (Robinson & McGee 1970; Cohen & Few 1976), H2CO (Whiteoak & Gardner 1979; Cohen & Few 1981), CO (Bania 1977; Dame et al. 1987; Bally et al. 1987, 1988) and CS (Bally et al. 1987, 1988). The OH groundstate lines at 18cm wavelength have certain advantages for such a survey. The OH lines appear in absorption against the galactic centre continuum sources, and against the continuum emission from the disk of the Galaxy. The absorption spectra are sensitive to relatively small molecular column densities. In addition they can give information on the relative positions of the molecular gas and the radio continuum sources. This paper describes results from an absorption line survey of the galactic centre region in the OH main lines at 1667.359 MHz and 1665.402 MHz (Boyce & Cohen 1994).


2020 ◽  
Vol 641 ◽  
pp. A141
Author(s):  
F. Nogueras-Lara ◽  
R. Schödel ◽  
N. Neumayer ◽  
E. Gallego-Cano ◽  
B. Shahzamanian ◽  
...  

Context. The characterisation of the extinction curve in the near-infrared (NIR) is fundamental to analysing the structure and stellar population of the Galactic centre (GC), whose analysis is hampered by the extreme interstellar extinction (AV ~ 30 mag) that varies on arc-second scales. Recent studies indicate that the behaviour of the extinction curve might be more complex than previously assumed, pointing towards a variation of the extinction curve as a function of wavelength. Aims. We aim to analyse the variations of the extinction index, α, with wavelength, line-of-sight, and absolute extinction, extending previous analyses to a larger area of the innermost regions of the Galaxy. Methods. We analysed the whole GALACTICNUCLEUS survey, a high-angular resolution (~0.2″) JHKs NIR survey specially designed to observe the GC in unprecedented detail. It covers a region of ~6000 pc2, comprising fields in the nuclear stellar disc, the inner bulge, and the transition region between them. We applied two independent methods based on red clump (RC) stars to constrain the extinction curve and analysed its variation superseding previous studies. Results. We used more than 165 000 RC stars and increased the size of the regions analysed significantly to confirm that the extinction curve varies with the wavelength. We estimated a difference Δα = 0.21 ± 0.07 between the obtained extinction indices, αJH = 2.44 ± 0.05 and αHKs = 2.23 ± 0.05. We also concluded that there is no significant variation of the extinction curve with wavelength, with the line-of-sight or the absolute extinction. Finally, we computed the ratios between extinctions, AJ∕AH = 1.87 ± 0.03 and AH/AKs = 1.84 ± 0.03, consistent with all the regions of the GALACTICNUCLEUS catalogue.


1974 ◽  
Vol 60 ◽  
pp. 521-535 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. J. Robinson

Dense gas clouds containing OH, CO, NH3 and H2CO are found in the inner part of the H1 nuclear disk. The molecular spectral lines allow direct observations of the kinematics of the gas near the galactic centre. Strong absorption of the thermal continuum sources by OH and H2CO shows that much of the gas on the near side of the centre can be located in a massive ‘ring’ expanding at 130 km s-1 which may have originated close to the nucleus about 106yr ago. Observations of CO emission from beyond the centre show that the far side of the ‘ring’ is expanding at a lower velocity, less than 90 km s-1. Observations of CO and NH3 emission with positive velocities for l < 360° are needed to establish whether the ‘ring’ is a continuous structure.OH and H2CO are also observed to be falling towards the centre. There is no agreement as to the location of this infalling matter.The nuclear regions of the Galaxy are compared with those of NGC 253, particularly in regard to expansional velocities, IR and radio emission, and OH absorption.


1957 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 90-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. G. Getmanzev ◽  
K. S. Stankevitch ◽  
V. S. Troitzky

As was shown by I. S. Shklovsky, a radio spectral line from interstellar deuterium on λD = 91·6 cm. (fD = 327·38424 Mc./s.) may be expected [1]. According to Shklovsky the difference between the effective temperature Teff in this line and outside it must be of the order of 1/500 Teff in the direction of the galactic centre, if the concentration of deuterium equals 10−3 that of hydrogen. In this case, contrary to the emission by hydrogen, an absorption line is expected. As Teff equals about 300° the depth should be of the order of 0·6°.


1977 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 150-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. F. Gardner ◽  
J. B. Whiteoak

Although it is well known that HII regions are present in the innermost regions of the Galaxy their kinematics are still not fully understood. In one study Pauls et al. (1976) surveyed with a beamwidth of 3′ arc the 10 GHz recombination line emission in directions within 15′ arc of the nuclear radio source Sgr A. They found that the emission velocities varied from position to position within the range -50 to + 50 km s-1but appeared to lack any overall pattern. In contrast, we have recently observed the recombination line emission from the galactic centre region with a beamwidth of 4′.5 arc, and find strong evidence of ordered motions near the galactic nucleus.


1996 ◽  
Vol 157 ◽  
pp. 218-220 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. L. Afanasiev ◽  
A. N. Burenkov ◽  
A. I. Shapovalova ◽  
V. V. Vlasyuk

AbstractResults of 3D-spectroscopy for the nearby Seyfert galaxy Mrk 573 obtained at the 6-m telescope with the scanning Fabry-Perot interferometer and the Multi-Pupil Field Spectrograph (MPFS) are presented. Emission lines images of the galaxy center demonstrate a complex structure of ENLR, coinciding with the radio data. An analysis of the velocity field shows that some gas structures do not lie in the plane of the galaxy. An explanation of the observed velocity field and gas distribution by radiation of a helical structure located inside an ionization cone is proposed.


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