3D CMZ. I. Central Molecular Zone Overview

Battersby, C ORCID: 0000-0002-6073-9320, Walker, DL ORCID: 0000-0001-7330-8856, Barnes, A ORCID: 0000-0003-0410-4504, Ginsburg, A ORCID: 0000-0001-6431-9633, Lipman, D ORCID: 0000-0002-5776-9473, Alboslani, D ORCID: 0009-0005-9578-2192, Hatchfield, HP ORCID: 0000-0003-0946-4365, Bally, J ORCID: 0000-0001-8135-6612, Glover, SCO ORCID: 0000-0001-6708-1317, Henshaw, JD ORCID: 0000-0001-9656-7682, Immer, K ORCID: 0000-0003-4140-5138, Klessen, RS ORCID: 0000-0002-0560-3172, Longmore, SN ORCID: 0000-0001-6353-0170, Mills, EAC ORCID: 0000-0001-8782-1992, Molinari, S ORCID: 0000-0002-9826-7525, Smith, R ORCID: 0000-0002-0820-1814, Sormani, MC ORCID: 0000-0001-6113-6241, Tress, RG ORCID: 0000-0002-9483-7164 and Zhang, Q ORCID: 0000-0003-2384-6589 (2025) 3D CMZ. I. Central Molecular Zone Overview. The Astrophysical Journal, 984 (2). pp. 1-16. ISSN 0004-637X

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Abstract

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(H2) > 1023 cm−2) CMZ mass of ~ ´ -+2 x10 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 18 > ℓ > −13. 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 × 1024 cm−2, and typical CMZ molecular clouds are about N(H2) ∼ 1023 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.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	5109 Space Sciences; 51 Physical Sciences; 0201 Astronomical and Space Sciences; 0202 Atomic, Molecular, Nuclear, Particle and Plasma Physics; 0306 Physical Chemistry (incl. Structural); Astronomy & Astrophysics; 5101 Astronomical sciences; 5107 Particle and high energy physics; 5109 Space sciences
Subjects:	Q Science > QB Astronomy Q Science > QC Physics
Divisions:	Astrophysics Research Institute
Publisher:	American Astronomical Society
Date of acceptance:	13 February 2025
Date of first compliant Open Access:	15 May 2025
Date Deposited:	15 May 2025 13:07
Last Modified:	03 Jul 2025 13:30
DOI or ID number:	10.3847/1538-4357/adb5f0
URI:	https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/26366

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