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Cited by 40Astrophysics and Star Formation StudiesAstrophysical Phenomena and ObservationsGalaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena

The Circumnuclear Disk Revealed by ALMA. I. Dense Clouds and Tides in the Galactic Center

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Hsieh, Pei-Ying, Koch, Patrick M., Kim, Woong-Tae, Martín, Sergio, Yen, Hsi-Wei, Carpenter, John M., Harada, Nanase, Turner, Jean L. +3 more·2021·The Astrophysical Journal
DOI 10.3847/1538-4357/abf4cd
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Abstract

Utilizing the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, we present CS line maps in five rotational lines (J u = 7, 5, 4, 3, 2) toward the circumnuclear disk (CND) and streamers of the Galactic center. Our primary goal is to resolve the compact structures within the CND and the streamers, in order to understand the stability conditions of molecular cores in the vicinity of the supermassive black hole (SMBH) Sgr A*. Our data provide the first homogeneous high-resolution (1.″3 = 0.05 pc) observations aiming at resolving density and temperature structures. The CS clouds have sizes of 0.05–0.2 pc with a broad range of velocity dispersion (σ FWHM = 5–40 km s−1). The CS clouds are a mixture of warm (T k ≥ 50–500 K, n H 2 = 10 3–10 5 cm−3) and cold gas (T k ≤ 50 K, n H 2 = 10 6–10 8 cm−3). A stability analysis based on the unmagnetized virial theorem including tidal force shows that 84 − 37 + 16 % of the total gas mass is tidally stable, which accounts for the majority of gas mass. Turbulence dominates the internal energy and thereby sets the threshold densities 10–100 times higher than the tidal limit at distance ≥1.5 pc to Sgr A*, and therefore it inhibits the clouds from collapsing to form stars near the SMBH. However, within the central 1 pc, the tidal force overrides turbulence and the threshold densities for a gravitational collapse quickly grow to ≥ 10 8 cm−3.

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  • Most of the CND clumps are compact enough to overcome the tidal force from Sgr A* and may either remain in rough equilibrium or form stars.

    “Most of these clumps are compact enough to overcome the tidal force from Sgr A ∗ and may either remain in rough equilibrium or form stars. (Shukla et al. 2004; Christopher et al. 2005; Hsieh et al. 2021).”

    From The Fermi/eROSITA bubbles: a look into the nuclear outflow from the Milky Way (2024) · cites this paper as Hsieh et al. 2021

    Section 4.2 reports that 94% of the studied clumps, by number, fall below the tidal-stability threshold and concludes that most are tidally unstable—the opposite of the claim that most overcome Sgr A*’s tidal force. It identifies a smaller tidally stable group, some of which could collapse, but says whether stars are forming in the CND remains unresolved. Page numbers were not available in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.88)

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1 of the 73 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 1

  1. Krumholz, M. R. 2011, in AIP Conf. Ser. 1386, XV Special Courses at the National Observatory of Rio de Janeiro, ed. E. Telles, R. Dupke, & D. Lazzaro (Melville, NY: AIP), 9

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Authors
Hsieh, P.-Y., Koch, P. M., Kim, W.-T., Martín, S., Yen, H.-W., Carpenter, J. M., Harada, N., Turner, J. L., Ho, P. T. P., Tang, Y.-W., & Beck, S.
Affiliations
  • Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Academia Sinica (TW)
  • Seoul National University (KR)
  • Atacama Large Millimeter Submillimeter Array (CL)
  • The Graduate University for Advanced Studies, SOKENDAI (JP)
  • University of California, Los Angeles (US)
  • Tel Aviv University (IL)
ORCID
Venue
The Astrophysical Journal
Publisher
American Astronomical Society
Published
2021-05-28
Volume
913
Issue
2
Pages
94
ISSN
  • 0004-637X (ISSN-L)
  • 1538-4357
DOI
10.3847/1538-4357/abf4cd
OpenAlex
W3147653690
Cited by
40
References
73
Citations by year
2026: 8 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 2
FWCI
2.82
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • The Astrophysical Journal (publishedVersion)
  • arXiv (Cornell University) (submittedVersion)
  • arXiv (Cornell University)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies
  • Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations
  • Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena
Keywords
circumnuclear disk, Galactic Center, Sgr A*, carbon monoxide, molecular clouds, tidal forces, molecular cores, supermassive black holes, turbulent flow, star formation suppression

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