An analysis of HCN observations of the Circumnuclear Disc at the Galactic Centre
Abstract
The Circumnuclear Disc (CND) is a torus of dust and molecular gas rotating about the Galactic Centre and extending from approximately 1.6 pc to 7 pc from the central massive black hole, SgrA*. Large Velocity Gradient modelling of the intensities of the HCN 1-0, 3-2 and 4-3 transitions is used to infer hydrogen density and HCN optical depth. From HCN observations we find the molecular hydrogen density ranges from 0.1 to 2 × 106 cm-3, about an order of magnitude less than inferred previously. The 1-0 line is weakly inverted with line-centre optical depth approx -0.1, in stark contrast to earlier estimates of 4. The estimated mass of the ring is approximately 3-4 × 105 M⊙, consistent with estimates based on thermal dust emission. The tidal shear in the disc implies that star formation is not expected to occur without some significant triggering event.
- Publication:
-
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
- Pub Date:
- February 2014
- DOI:
- 10.1093/mnras/stt2092
- arXiv:
- arXiv:1310.8429
- Bibcode:
- 2014MNRAS.437.3159S
- Keywords:
-
- line: formation;
- molecular processes;
- radiative transfer;
- ISM: molecules;
- Galaxy: centre;
- Astrophysics - Astrophysics of Galaxies
- E-Print:
- 17 pages, 8 figures, 7 tables (including 3 landscape tables generated with 2 separate Latex files)