Nuclear spirals in the inner Milky Way

We use hydrodynamical simulations to construct a new coherent picture for the gas flow in the Central Molecular Zone (CMZ), the region of our Galaxy within R ≲ 500  pc. We relate connected structures observed in (l, b, v) data cubes of molecular tracers to nuclear spiral arms. These arise naturally...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Ridley, Matthew G.L. (Author) , Sormani, Mattia C. (Author) , Treß, Robin G. (Author) , Klessen, Ralf S. (Author)
Format: Article (Journal)
Language:English
Published: 21 April 2017
In: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Year: 2017, Volume: 469, Issue: 2, Pages: 2251-2262
ISSN:1365-2966
DOI:10.1093/mnras/stx944
Online Access:Verlag, kostenfrei, Volltext: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stx944
Verlag, kostenfrei, Volltext: https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article/469/2/2251/3747502/Nuclear-spirals-in-the-inner-Milky-Way
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Author Notes:Matthew G.L. Ridley, Mattia C. Sormani, Robin G. Treß, John Magorrian, Ralf S. Klessen
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Summary:We use hydrodynamical simulations to construct a new coherent picture for the gas flow in the Central Molecular Zone (CMZ), the region of our Galaxy within R ≲ 500  pc. We relate connected structures observed in (l, b, v) data cubes of molecular tracers to nuclear spiral arms. These arise naturally in hydrodynamical simulations of barred galaxies, and are similar to those that can be seen in external galaxies such as NGC 4303 or NGC 1097. We discuss a face-on view of the CMZ, including the positions of several prominent molecular clouds, such as Sgr B2, the 20 and 50 km s−1 clouds, the polar arc, Bania Clump 2 and Sgr C. Our model is also consistent with the larger scale gas flow, up to R ≃ 3 kpc, thus providing a consistent picture of the entire Galactic bar region.
Item Description:Gesehen am 24.07.2017
Physical Description:Online Resource
ISSN:1365-2966
DOI:10.1093/mnras/stx944