ALMA observations of massive clouds in the central molecular zone: slim filaments tracing parsec-scale shocks

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Yang, Kai, Lu, Xing, Zhang, Yichen, Liu, Xunchuan, Ginsburg, Adam, Liu, Hauyu Baobab, Cheng, Yu, Feng, Siyi, Liu, Tie, Zhang, Qizhou, Mills, Elisabeth A. C., Walker, Daniel L., Inutsuka, Shu-ichiro, Battersby, Cara, Longmore, Steven N., Tang, Xindi, Kauffmann, Jens, Gu, Qilao, Li, Shanghuo, Luo, Qiuyi, Kruijssen, J. M. Diederik, Pillai, Thushara, Qiao, Hai-Hua, Qiu, Keping, Shen, Zhiqiang
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Yang, Kai
Lu, Xing
Zhang, Yichen
Liu, Xunchuan
Ginsburg, Adam
Liu, Hauyu Baobab
Cheng, Yu
Feng, Siyi
Liu, Tie
Zhang, Qizhou
Mills, Elisabeth A. C.
Walker, Daniel L.
Inutsuka, Shu-ichiro
Battersby, Cara
Longmore, Steven N.
Tang, Xindi
Kauffmann, Jens
Gu, Qilao
Li, Shanghuo
Luo, Qiuyi
Kruijssen, J. M. Diederik
Pillai, Thushara
Qiao, Hai-Hua
Qiu, Keping
Shen, Zhiqiang
author_facet Yang, Kai
Lu, Xing
Zhang, Yichen
Liu, Xunchuan
Ginsburg, Adam
Liu, Hauyu Baobab
Cheng, Yu
Feng, Siyi
Liu, Tie
Zhang, Qizhou
Mills, Elisabeth A. C.
Walker, Daniel L.
Inutsuka, Shu-ichiro
Battersby, Cara
Longmore, Steven N.
Tang, Xindi
Kauffmann, Jens
Gu, Qilao
Li, Shanghuo
Luo, Qiuyi
Kruijssen, J. M. Diederik
Pillai, Thushara
Qiao, Hai-Hua
Qiu, Keping
Shen, Zhiqiang
contents The central molecular zone (CMZ) of our Galaxy exhibits widespread emission from SiO and various complex organic molecules (COMs), yet the exact origin of such emission is uncertain. Here we report the discovery of a unique class of long ($>$0.5 pc) and narrow ($<$0.03 pc) filaments in the emission of SiO 5$-$4 and eight additional molecular lines, including several COMs, in our ALMA 1.3 mm spectral line observations toward two massive molecular clouds in the CMZ, which we name as slim filaments. However, these filaments are not detected in the 1.3 mm continuum at the 5$σ$ level. Their line-of-sight velocities are coherent and inconsistent with being outflows. The column densities and relative abundances of the detected molecules are statistically similar to those in protostellar outflows but different from those in dense cores within the same clouds. Turbulent pressure in these filaments dominates over self gravity and leads to hydrostatic inequilibrium, indicating that they are a different class of objects than the dense gas filaments in dynamical equilibrium ubiquitously found in nearby molecular clouds. We argue that these newly detected slim filaments are associated with parsec-scale shocks, likely arising from dynamic interactions between shock waves and molecular clouds. The dissipation of the slim filaments may replenish SiO and COMs in the interstellar medium and lead to their widespread emission in the CMZ.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2502_03913
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle ALMA observations of massive clouds in the central molecular zone: slim filaments tracing parsec-scale shocks
Yang, Kai
Lu, Xing
Zhang, Yichen
Liu, Xunchuan
Ginsburg, Adam
Liu, Hauyu Baobab
Cheng, Yu
Feng, Siyi
Liu, Tie
Zhang, Qizhou
Mills, Elisabeth A. C.
Walker, Daniel L.
Inutsuka, Shu-ichiro
Battersby, Cara
Longmore, Steven N.
Tang, Xindi
Kauffmann, Jens
Gu, Qilao
Li, Shanghuo
Luo, Qiuyi
Kruijssen, J. M. Diederik
Pillai, Thushara
Qiao, Hai-Hua
Qiu, Keping
Shen, Zhiqiang
Astrophysics of Galaxies
The central molecular zone (CMZ) of our Galaxy exhibits widespread emission from SiO and various complex organic molecules (COMs), yet the exact origin of such emission is uncertain. Here we report the discovery of a unique class of long ($>$0.5 pc) and narrow ($<$0.03 pc) filaments in the emission of SiO 5$-$4 and eight additional molecular lines, including several COMs, in our ALMA 1.3 mm spectral line observations toward two massive molecular clouds in the CMZ, which we name as slim filaments. However, these filaments are not detected in the 1.3 mm continuum at the 5$σ$ level. Their line-of-sight velocities are coherent and inconsistent with being outflows. The column densities and relative abundances of the detected molecules are statistically similar to those in protostellar outflows but different from those in dense cores within the same clouds. Turbulent pressure in these filaments dominates over self gravity and leads to hydrostatic inequilibrium, indicating that they are a different class of objects than the dense gas filaments in dynamical equilibrium ubiquitously found in nearby molecular clouds. We argue that these newly detected slim filaments are associated with parsec-scale shocks, likely arising from dynamic interactions between shock waves and molecular clouds. The dissipation of the slim filaments may replenish SiO and COMs in the interstellar medium and lead to their widespread emission in the CMZ.
title ALMA observations of massive clouds in the central molecular zone: slim filaments tracing parsec-scale shocks
topic Astrophysics of Galaxies
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2502.03913