A wind-blown bubble in the Central Molecular Zone cloud G0.253+0.016
G0.253+0.016, commonly referred to as ‘the Brick’ and located within the Central Molecular Zone, is one of the densest (≈103-4 cm−3) molecular clouds in the Galaxy to lack signatures of widespread star formation. We set out to constrain the origins of an arc-shaped molecular line emission feature lo...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article (Journal) |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2022
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| In: |
Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Year: 2022, Volume: 509, Issue: 4, Pages: 4758-4774 |
| ISSN: | 1365-2966 |
| DOI: | 10.1093/mnras/stab3039 |
| Online Access: | Verlag, lizenzpflichtig, Volltext: https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stab3039
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| Author Notes: | Jonathan D. Henshaw, Mark R. Krumholz, Natalie O. Butterfield, Jonathan Mackey, Adam Ginsburg, Thomas J. Haworth, Francisco Nogueras-Lara, Ashley T. Barnes, Steven N. Longmore, John Bally, J.M. Diederik Kruijssen, Elisabeth A.C. Mills, Henrik Beuther, Daniel L. Walker, Cara Battersby, Alyssa Bulatek, Thomas Henning, Juergen Ott and Juan D. Soler |
| Summary: | G0.253+0.016, commonly referred to as ‘the Brick’ and located within the Central Molecular Zone, is one of the densest (≈103-4 cm−3) molecular clouds in the Galaxy to lack signatures of widespread star formation. We set out to constrain the origins of an arc-shaped molecular line emission feature located within the cloud. We determine that the arc, centred on $\lbrace l_{0},b_{0}\rbrace =\lbrace 0{_{.}^{\circ}} 248,\, 0{_{.}^{\circ}} 018\rbrace$, has a radius of 1.3 pc and kinematics indicative of the presence of a shell expanding at $5.2^{+2.7}_{-1.9}$ $\mathrm{\, km\, s}^{-1}$. Extended radio continuum emission fills the arc cavity and recombination line emission peaks at a similar velocity to the arc, implying that the molecular gas and ionized gas are physically related. The inferred Lyman continuum photon rate is NLyC = 1046.0-1047.9 photons s−1, consistent with a star of spectral type B1-O8.5, corresponding to a mass of ≈12-20 M⊙. We explore two scenarios for the origin of the arc: (i) a partial shell swept up by the wind of an interloper high-mass star and (ii) a partial shell swept up by stellar feedback resulting from in situ star formation. We favour the latter scenario, finding reasonable (factor of a few) agreement between its morphology, dynamics, and energetics and those predicted for an expanding bubble driven by the wind from a high-mass star. The immediate implication is that G0.253+0.016 may not be as quiescent as is commonly accepted. We speculate that the cloud may have produced a ≲103 M⊙ star cluster ≳0.4 Myr ago, and demonstrate that the high-extinction and stellar crowding observed towards G0.253+0.016 may help to obscure such a star cluster from detection. |
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| Item Description: | Published: 17 December 2021 Gesehen am 20.04.2022 |
| Physical Description: | Online Resource |
| ISSN: | 1365-2966 |
| DOI: | 10.1093/mnras/stab3039 |