Search

Aminoacetonitrile (NH 2 CH 2 CN) was detected in the interstellar medium (ISM) one decade ago in the course of a spectral survey of the hot molecular core Sagittarius (Sgr) B2(N) with the IRAM 30 m telescope. With the advent of sensitive telescopes such as the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), the degree of chemical complexity in the ISM can be further explored. In the family of aminoacetonitrile, the next stage in complexity with one additional CH 2 group is aminopropionitrile. This molecule has two structural isomers, a chain-like (3-aminopropionitrile, NH 2 CH 2 CH 2 CN) and a branched, chiral one (2-aminopropionitrile, CH 3 CH(NH 2 ) CN). The latter was studied in the laboratory a few years ago and was not detected in the IRAM 30 m survey. We present the search for both isomers in the EMoCA (Exploring Molecular Complexity with ALMA) survey, a sensitive spectral survey of Sgr B2(N) performed with ALMA. The rotational spectrum of 3-aminopropionitrile has been recorded in laboratory with a submillimeter spectrometer using solid-state sources. Helped by ab initio calculations performed for the different possible conformations, we present here the analysis based on a Watson Hamiltonian for an asymmetric one-top rotor in A-reduction performed in the frequency range 150–500 GHz for two conformers. More than 6200 lines of the ground-state and lowest excited vibrational states, corresponding to more than 8200 transitions, were assigned in the experimental spectrum. Partition functions, including the vibrational contribution of these states, and predictions in the JPL-CDMS catalog format were determined in order to search for both conformers of 3-aminopropionitrile in Sgr B2(N). Neither 3-aminopropionitrile, nor 2-aminopropionitrile are detected. The derived upper limits imply that they are at least 12 and 5 times less abundant than aminoacetonitrile, respectively. A comparison to ethyl cyanide and n-propyl cyanide detected in this source suggests that an improvement by a factor three in sensitivity may be sufficient to detect 3-aminopropionitrile, which should be within the range of our on-going follow-up project with ALMA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

N-body simulations of the interaction between the Sagittarius dwarf galaxy and the Milky Way are performed to study whether it is possible to reproduce both the bifurcations in the tidal streams and the physical properties of Sagittarius. Both galaxies are simulated as sets of particles (live potentials). The initial structures are formed using GALIC and the gravitational interaction between these galaxies is simulated with GADGET-2. Sagittarius initially is simulated as a rotating disk-type galaxy with two components: dark matter halo and stellar disk and the Milky Way is a disk galaxy with three components: dark matter halo, stellar disk and central spheroid. Several numerical simulations of the interaction of this galaxy with the Milky Way with angles between the orbital angular momentum and the disc angular momentum in the range 180° ≤ θ ≤ 0° were performed, showing that, although the position and physical properties of Sagittarius are not reproduced entirely by the remnant, the bifurcations appear clearly when 180° ≤ θ < 90°. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context. Up to now, mostly relatively simple molecules have been detected in interstellar diffuse molecular clouds in our galaxy, but more complex species have been reported in the diffuse/translucent medium of a z = 0.89 spiral galaxy. Aims. We aim at searching for complex organic molecules (COMs) in diffuse molecular clouds along the line of sight to Sgr B2(N), taking advantage of the high sensitivity and angular resolution of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). Methods. We use data acquired as part of the EMoCA survey performed with ALMA. To analyse the absorption features of the molecules detected towards the ultracompact H ii region K4 in Sgr B2(N), we calculate synthetic spectra for these molecules and fit their column densities, line widths, centroid velocities, and excitation temperatures. Results. We report the detection of CH3OH, CH3CN, CH3CHO, HC3N, and NH2CHO in Galactic center (GC) diffuse clouds and CH3OH and CH3CN in a diffuse cloud in the Scutum arm. The chemical composition of one of the diffuse GC clouds is found to be similar to the one of the diffuse/translucent medium of the z = 0.89 spiral galaxy. Conclusions. The chemical processes leading to chemical complexity in the diffuse molecular ISM appear to have remained similar since z = 0.89. As proposed in previous studies, the presence of COMs in diffuse molecular clouds may result from a cyclical interstellar process of cloud contraction and expansion between diffuse and dense states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report the discovery of two new candidate stellar systems in the constellation of Cetus using the data from the first two years of the Dark Energy Survey (DES). The objects, DES J0111-1341 and DES J0225+0304, are located at a heliocentric distance of ~25 kpc and appear to have old and metal-poor populations. Their distances to the Sagittarius orbital plane, ~1.73 kpc (DES J0111-1341) and ~0.50 kpc (DES J0225+0304), indicate that they are possibly associated with the Sagittarius dwarf stream. The half-light radius (rh ≃ 4.55 pc) and luminosity (MV ≃ +0.3) of DES J0111-1341 are consistent with it being an ultrafaint stellar cluster, while the half-light radius (rh ≃ 18.55 pc) and luminosity ( MV ≃ -1.1) of DES J0225+0304 place it in an ambiguous region of size-luminosity space between stellar clusters and dwarf galaxies. Determinations of the characteristic parameters of the Sagittarius stream, metallicity spread (-2.18 ≲ [Fe/H] ≲ -0.95) and distance gradient (23 kpc ≲ D☉ ≲ 29 kpc), within the DES footprint in the Southern hemisphere, using the same DES data, also indicate a possible association between these systems. If these objects are confirmed through spectroscopic follow-up to be gravitationally bound systems and to share a Galactic trajectory with the Sagittarius stream, DES J0111-1341 and DES J0225+0304 would be the first ultrafaint stellar systems associated with the Sagittarius stream. Furthermore, DES J0225+0304 would also be the first confirmed case of an ultrafaint satellite of a satellite. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a study of the kinematics of 101 stars observed with Visible MultiObject Spectrograph around Whiting 1, a globular cluster embedded in the Sagittarius tidal stream. The obtained velocity distribution shows the presence of two wraps of that halo substructure at the same heliocentric distance as that of the cluster and with well-differentiated mean radial velocities. The most prominent velocity component seems to be associated with the trailing arm of Sagittarius with (vr) ~ -130 km s-1, which is consistent with the velocity of Whiting 1. This result supports that this globular cluster was formed in Sagittarius and recently accreted by the Milky Way. The second component with (vr) ~ 120km s-1 might correspond to the leading arm of Sagittarius, which has been predicted by numerical simulations but with no conclusive observational evidence of its existence presented so far. This detection of the old leading wrap of Sagittarius in the Southern hemisphere may be used to confirm and further constrain the models for its orbit and evolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report spectroscopic and photometric follow-up of the peculiar nova V5852 Sgr (discovered as OGLE-2015-NOVA-01), which exhibits a combination of features from different classes nova. The photometry shows a flat-topped light curve with quasi-periodic oscillations, then a smooth decline followed by two fainter recoveries in brightness. Spectroscopy with the Southern African Large Telescope shows first a classical nova with an Fe II or Fe II b spectral type. In the latter spectrum, broad emissions from helium, nitrogen and oxygen are prominent, and the iron has faded which could be an indication to the start of the nebular phase. The line widths suggest ejection velocities around 1000 km s-1. The nova is in the direction of the Galactic bulge and is heavily reddened by an uncertain amount. The V magnitude 16 days after maximum enables a distance to be estimated and this suggests that the nova may be in the extreme trailing stream of the Sagittarius dwarf spheroidal galaxy. If so it is the first nova to be detected from that, or from any dwarf spheroidal galaxy. Given the uncertainty of the method and the unusual light curve we cannot rule out the possibility that it is in the bulge or even the Galactic disk behind the bulge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dependence of the emission measure on the dispersion measure due to the Galactic background has been derived for 120 directions in the Galaxy. This analysis has yielded the mean electron density, effective thickness of the electron layer, and the volume filling factor of the clouds of ionized gas along the line of sight. The pulsar J1745−2900, which lies in a direction close to the direction toward the center of the Galaxy, is located at least 100 pc closer to the observer than the source Sgr A* along the line of sight. The scatter-broadened angular size of J1745−2900 is determined by the turbulent medium in the Sagittarius Arm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Apart from the case of methanol, little is known about deuterium fractionation of complex organic molecules in the interstellar medium, especially in high mass star forming regions. We take advantage of the EMoCA spectral line survey to search for deuterated complex organic molecules toward the hot molecular core Sgr B2(N2). We report the secure detection of CH2DCN with a deuteration level of 0.4% and tentative detections of CH2DOH, CH2DCH2CN, CH3CHDCN, and DC3N with levels in the range 0.05-0.12%. Except for methyl cyanide, the measured deuteration levels lie at least a factor of four below the predictions of current astrochemical models. They are also lower than in Orion KL by a factor of a few up to a factor ten. These discrepancies and differences may be due to the higher temperatures that prevail in the Galactic Center region compared to nearby clouds, or they may result from a lower overall abundance of deuterium itself in the Galactic Center region by up to a factor ten. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present results from radiative transfer modeling of the continuum emission towards Sagittarius B2 (hereafter Sgr B2). We have developed a radiative transfer framework - Pandora - that employs RADMC-3D (Dullemond 2012) for a self-consistent determination of the dust temperature. With this pipeline, we have set-up a single model that consistently reproduces the thermal dust and freefree continuum emission of Sgr B2 spanning four orders of magnitude in spatial scales (0.02-45 pc) and two orders of magnitude in frequency (20-4000 GHz). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a 30-50 GHz survey of Sagittarius B2(N) conducted with the Australia Telescope Compact Array with ~5-10 arcsec resolution. This work releases the survey data and demonstrates the utility of scripts that perform automated spectral line fitting on broad-band line data. We describe the line-fitting procedure, evaluate the performance of the method, and provide access to all data and scripts. The scripts are used to characterize the spectra at the positions of three H II regions, each with recombination line emission and molecular line absorption. Towards the most line-dense of the three regions characterized in this work, we detect ~500 spectral line components of which ~90 percent are confidently assigned to H and He recombination lines and to 53 molecular species and their isotopologues. The data reveal extremely sub-thermally excited molecular gas absorbing against the continuum background at two primary velocity components. Based on the line radiation over the full spectra, the molecular abundances and line excitation in the absorbing components appear to vary substantially towards the different positions, possibly indicating that the two gas clouds are located proximate to the star-forming cores instead of within the envelope of Sgr B2. Furthermore, the spatial distributions of species including CS, OCS, SiO, and HNCO indicate that the absorbing gas components likely have high UV-flux. Finally, the data contain line-of-sight absorption by ~15 molecules observed in translucent gas in the Galactic Centre, bar, and intervening spiral arm clouds, revealing the complex chemistry and clumpy structure of this gas. Formamide (NH2CHO) is detected for the first time in a translucent cloud. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the image of supermassive black hole at center of Milky Way Galaxy and mentions joining of radio observatories across the world along with scientists to image object Sagittarius A (SGR A). Topics discussed include intense gravity of black holes in centers of galaxies that have huge masses, radio telescopes that can peer through cloud of dust around galactic center and ring of glowing gas surrounds a void enclosing Milky Way's solar mass black hole.

We present new Herschel observations of the (6,6) and (9,9) inversion transitions of the hydronium ion toward Sagittarius B2(N) and W31C. Sensitive observations toward Sagittarius B2(N) show that the high, ∼500 K, rotational temperatures characterizing the population of the highly excited metastable H3O+ rotational levels are present over a wide range of velocities corresponding to the Sagittarius B2 envelope, as well as the foreground gas clouds between the Sun and the source. Observations of the same lines toward W31C, a line of sight that does not intersect the Central Molecular Zone but instead traces quiescent gas in the Galactic disk, also imply a high rotational temperature of ∼380 K, well in excess of the kinetic temperature of the diffuse Galactic interstellar medium. While it is plausible that some fraction of the molecular gas may be heated to such high temperatures in the active environment of the Galactic center, characterized by high X-ray and cosmic-ray fluxes, shocks, and high degree of turbulence, this is unlikely in the largely quiescent environment of the Galactic disk clouds. We suggest instead that the highly excited states of the hydronium ion are populated mainly by exoergic chemical formation processes and the temperature describing the rotational level population does not represent the physical temperature of the medium. The same arguments may be applicable to other symmetric top rotors, such as ammonia. This offers a simple explanation of the long-standing puzzle of the presence of a pervasive, hot molecular gas component in the central region of the Milky Way. Moreover, our observations suggest that this is a universal process not limited to the active environments associated with galactic nuclei. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context. The discovery of amino acids in meteorites fallen to Earth and the detection of glycine, the simplest of them, in samples returned from a comet to Earth strongly suggest that the chemistry of the interstellar medium is capable of producing such complex organic molecules and that they may be widespread in our Galaxy. Aims. Our goal is to investigate the degree of chemical complexity that can be reached in the interstellar medium, in particular in dense star-forming regions. Methods. We performed an unbiased, spectral line survey toward Sgr B2(N) and (M), two regions where high-mass stars are formed, with the IRAM 30 m telescope in the 3 mm atmospheric transmission window. Partial surveys at 2 and 1.3 mm were performed in parallel. The spectra were analyzed with a simple radiative transfer model that assumes local thermodynamic equilibrium but takes optical depth effects into account. Results. About 3675 and 945 spectral lines with a peak signal-to-noise ratio higher than 4 are detected at 3 mm toward Sgr B2(N) and (M), i.e. about 102 and 26 lines per GHz, respectively. This represents an increase by about a factor of two over previous surveys of Sgr B2. About 70% and 47% of the lines detected toward Sgr B2(N) and (M) are identified and assigned to 56 and 46 distinct molecules as well as to 66 and 54 less abundant isotopologues of these molecules, respectively. In addition, we report the detection of transitions from 59 and 24 catalog entries corresponding to vibrationally or torsionally excited states of some of these molecules, respectively, up to a vibration energy of 1400 cm-1 (2000 K). Excitation temperatures and column densities were derived for each species but should be used with caution. The rotation temperatures of the detected complex molecules typically range from ~50 to 200 K. Among the detected molecules, aminoacetonitrile, n-propyl cyanide, and ethyl formate were reported for the first time in space based on this survey, as were five rare isotopologues of vinyl cyanide, cyanoacetylene, and hydrogen cyanide. We also report the detection of transitions from within twelve new vibrationally or torsionally excited states of known molecules. Absorption features produced by diffuse clouds along the line of sight are detected in transitions with low rotation quantum numbers of many simple molecules and are modeled with ~30-40 velocity components with typical linewidths of ~3-5 km s-1. Conclusions. Although the large number of unidentified lines may still allow future identification of new molecules, we expect most of these lines to belong to vibrationally or torsionally excited states or to rare isotopologues of known molecules for which spectroscopic predictions are currently missing. Significant progress in extending the inventory of complex organic molecules in Sgr B2(N) and deriving tighter constraints on their location, origin, and abundance is expected in the near future thanks to an ongoing spectral line survey at 3 mm with ALMA in its cycles 0 and 1. The present single-dish survey will serve as a solid basis for the line identification and analysis of such an interferometric survey. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context. Sagittarius B2 is one of the most massive and luminous star-forming regions in the Galaxy and shows a very rich chemistry and physical conditions similar to those in much more distant extragalactic starbursts. Aims. We present large-scale far-infrared/submillimeter photometric images and broadband spectroscopic maps taken with the PACS and SPIRE instruments onboard Herschel. Methods. High angular resolution dust images (complemented with Spitzer MIPS 24 μm images) as well as atomic and molecular spectral maps were made and analyzed in order to constrain the dust properties, the gas physical conditions, and the chemical content of this unique region. Results. The spectra towards the Sagittarius B2 star-forming cores, B2(M) and B2(N), are characterized by strong CO line emission (from J = 4 to 16), emission lines from high-density tracers (HCN, HCO+, and H2S), [Nii] 205μm emission from ionized gas, and a large number of absorption lines from light hydride molecules (OH+, H2O+, H2O, CH+, CH, SH+, HF, NH, NH2, and NH3). The rotational population diagrams of CO suggest the presence of two different gas temperature components: an extended warm component with Trot ∼ 50-100 K, which is associated with the extended envelope, and a hotter component at Trot ∼ 200 K and Trot ∼ 300 K, which is only seen towards the B2(M) and B2(N) cores, respectively. As observed in other Galactic center clouds, such gas temperatures are significantly higher than the dust temperatures inferred from photometric images (Td ≃ 20-30 K). We determined far-IR luminosities (LFIR(M) ∼ 5 × 106 L⊙ and LFIR(N) ∼ 1.1 × 106 L⊙) and total dust masses (Md(M) ∼ 2300 M⊙ and Md(N) ∼ 2500 M⊙) in the cores. Non-local thermodynamic equilibrium models of the CO excitation were used to constrain the averaged gas density (n(H2) ∼ 106 cm-3) in the cores (i.e., similar or lower than the critical densities for collisional thermalization of midand high-J CO levels). A uniform luminosity ratio, L(CO)/LFIR ∼ (1-3) × 10-4, is measured along the extended envelope, suggesting that the same mechanism dominates the heating of the molecular gas at large scales. Conclusions. Sgr B2 shows extended emission from warm CO gas and cold dust, whereas only the cores show a hotter CO component. The detection of high-density molecular tracers and of strong [Nii] 205 μm line emission towards the cores suggests that their morphology must be clumpy to allow UV radiation to escape from the inner Hii regions. Together with shocks, the strong UV radiation field is likely responsible for the heating of the hot CO component. At larger scales, photodissociation regions models can explain both the observed CO line ratios and the uniform L(CO)/LFIR luminosity ratios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context. The spiral structure of the Milky Way inside the solar circle is still poorly known because of the high density of the material that causes strong extinction towards the Galactic center. Aims. We present results of the first extensive and deep color-color diagram (CCD) photometric survey carried out in the field of the open cluster Trumpler 27, an object immersed in a region of extremely high visual absorption in the constellation of Sagittarius not far from the Galaxy center. The survey covers almost a quarter of square degree. Methods. We look for young stars clumps that might plausibly be associated with spiral structure. Wide-field UBVI photometry combined with infrared information allows us to reconstruct the distribution in the reddening and distance of young stars in the field using the CCD and color-magnitude diagrams (CMD). Results. The analysis of our data, combined with extensive spectroscopy taken from the literature, shows that the real entity of Trumpler 27 as an open cluster is far from being firmly stated. In fact, instead of finding a relatively compact group of stars confined to a small distance range, we found that stars associated with Trumpler 27 are, indeed, a superposition of early-type stars seen along the line of sight extending over several kiloparsecs beyond even the center of the Galaxy. We demonstrate that at each distance range it becomes possible to generate a CMD resembling that of an open cluster. This way, our analysis indicates that what was considered an open cluster characterized by a significant age spread is a stellar continuum that reaches its maximum number of stars at approximately 3.5 kpc from the Sun, the distance of the Scutum-Crux arm approximately. After analyzing the way early-type stars distribute with distance, we found that some of these stellar groups may be linked, within the distance errors, with other inner spiral arms of our Galaxy, including the Near 3 kpc arm at approximately 5 kpc from the Sun. However, very young stars by themselves do not seem to trace strongly the inner spiral arms since they are distributed evenly across several kiloparsecs toward the center of the Galaxy. This is remarkably different to current HI and CO radio observation maps, which show inner spiral arms composed by discrete structures of gas with a well-defined inter-arm separation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During an [O III] survey of planetary nebulae, we identified a region in Sagittarius containing several candidate supernova remants (SNRs) and obtained deep optical narrow-band images and spectra to explore their nature. We obtained images of the area of interest by acquiring observations in the emission lines of Hα + [N II], [S II] and [O III]. The resulting mosaic covers an area of 1.40° × 1.0°, where both filamentary and diffuse emission was discovered, suggesting that there is more than one SNR in the area. Deep long-slit spectra were also taken of eight different regions. Both the flux-calibrated images and the spectra show that the emission from the filamentary structures originates from shock-heated gas, while the photo-ionization mechanism is responsible for the diffuse emission. Part of the optical emission is found to be correlated with the radio at 4850 MHz suggesting that they are related, while the infrared emission found in the area at 12 μm and 22 μm marginally correlates with the optical. The presence of the [O III] emission line in one of the candidate SNRs implies that the shock velocities in the interstellar "clouds" are between 120 km 5 and 200 km s-1, while its absence in the other candidate SNRs indicates that the shock velocities there are slower. For all candidate remnants, the [S II] λλ6716/6731 ratio indicates that the electron densities are below 240 cm-3, while the Hα emission is measured to be between 0.6 and 41 × l0-17 erg s-1 cm-2 arcsec-2. The existence of eight pulsars within 1.5° of the center of the candidate SNRs also implies that there are many SNRs in the area as well as that the detected optical emission could be part of a number of supernovae explosions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context. No chiral molecule has been detected in the interstellar medium (ISM) so far. Aims. A good candidate for an interstellar detection is 2-aminopropionitrile (CH3CH(NH2)CN), a chiral molecule with a C3H6N2 formula. The first member of this series, aminoacetonitrile (H2NCH2CN), was recently detected, demonstrating that at least one aminonitrile exists in the ISM. Methods. Experimental spectra of 2-aminopropionitrile have been recorded in the microwave and submm energy range (8-80 GHz, 150-660 GHz). Ab initio calculations facilitated the assignment of the ground state of the most stable conformer and its five lowest excited vibrational states. An unbiased spectral survey of the 80-116 GHz atmospheric window performed with the IRAM 30m telescope was used to search for this molecule in the hot core Sgr B2(N). This survey was analyzed in the local thermodynamical equilibrium (LTE) approximation. The emission of 2-aminopropionitrile was modeled simultaneously with the emission of all molecules known in Sgr B2(N), which allowed us to properly take into account line blending and avoid misassignments. Results. More than 4000 lines of the ground state and the five lowest excited vibrational states (from 185 to 375 cm-1) were assigned in the experimental spectrum. The partition function including the vibrational contribution of these states was calculated. Only ten groups of transitions of 2-aminopropionitrile are not severely affected by line blending in the Sgr B2(N) spectrum. Six of them could be considered as tentatively detected but the LTE predictions of the four remaining groups are not (or only marginally) consistent with the observed spectrum. Therefore, only an upper limit of 1.7 × 1016 cm-2 can be securely derived for the column density of 2-aminopropionitrile toward Sgr B2(N), assuming the same source size, temperature, linewidth, and systemic velocity as for aminoacetonitrile Conclusions. 2-aminopropionitrile is at least 1.8 times less abundant than aminoacetonitrile. A simple comparison to the pair methyl cyanide (CH3CN)/ethyl cyanide (CH3CH2CN) detected toward Sgr B2(N) suggests that 2-aminopropionitrile should be 3.5 times less abundant than aminoacetonitrile, which is consistent with the limit derived here [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We simulate an electromagnetic pulse excited by a sharp descent of the charged upper wall of the Earth-ionosphere cavity. The ionosphere descent by 20 km was detected over the dayside Earth's hemisphere during a giant extragalactic gamma-ray burst in the constellation of Sagittarius (SGR 1806-20). We show that a sharp change in the ionosphere altitude can cause a discrete pulse of extremely low-frequency radiation with the spectrum having some specific features and the amplitude significantly exceeding the natural regular noise background. The time of arrival of the radio pulse to an observer coincides with the gamma-burst time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A full spectral survey was carried out towards the giant molecular cloud complex, Sagittarius B2 (Sgr B2), using the Infrared Space Observatory ( ISO) Long Wavelength Spectrometer (LWS) Fabry–Pérot mode. This provided complete wavelength coverage in the range 47–196 μm (6.38–1.53 THz) with a spectral resolution of 30–40 km s−1. This is a unique data set covering wavelengths inaccessible from the ground. It is an extremely important region of the spectrum as it contains both the peak of the thermal emission from dust, and crucial spectral lines of key atomic (O i, C ii, O iii, N ii and N iii) and molecular species (NH3, NH2, NH, H2O, OH, H3O+, CH, CH2, C3, HF and H2D+). In total, 95 spectral lines have been identified and 11 features with absorption depth greater than 3σ remain unassigned. Most of the molecular lines are seen in absorption against the strong continuum, whereas the atomic and ionic lines appear in emission (except for absorption in the O i 63 μm and C ii 158 μm lines). Sgr B2 is located close to the Galactic Centre and so many of the features also show a broad absorption profile due to material located along the line of sight. A full description of the survey data set is given with an overview of each detected species and final line lists for both assigned and unassigned features. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have used the Mopra Telescope to search for glycine and the simple chiral molecule propylene oxide in the Sgr B2 (LMH) and Orion KL, in the 3-mm band. We have not detected either species, but have been able to put sensitive upper limits on the abundances of both molecules. The 3σ upper limits derived for glycine conformer I are in both Orion-KL and Sgr B2 (LMH), comparable to the reported detections of conformer I by Kuan et al. However, as our values are 3σ upper limits rather than detections we conclude that this weighs against confirming the detection of Kuan et al. We find upper limits for the glycine II column density of in both Orion-KL and Sgr B2 (LMH), in agreement with the results of Combes et al. The results presented here show that glycine conformer II is not present in the extended gas at the levels detected by Kuan et al. for conformer I. Our ATCA results have ruled out the detection of glycine (both conformers I and II) in the compact hot core of the LMH at the levels reported, so we conclude that it is unlikely that Kuan et al. have detected glycine in either Sgr B2 or Orion-KL. We find upper limits for propylene oxide abundance of in Orion-KL and in Sgr B2 (LMH). We have detected fourteen features in Sgr B2 and four features in Orion-KL which have not previously been reported in the interstellar medium, but have not been able to plausibly assign these transitions to any carrier. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present the results of a variability study of some H2O maser-emission components of Sgr B2, which is located in an active star-forming region. Our monitoring was conducted in 1982–2004 with the 22-m radio telescope of the Pushchino Radio Astronomy Observatory. We analyze brightness variations for the strongest groups of emission features in the H2O spectra, mainly during periods of maser flaring activity. Each of these groups contains many components, whose radial velocities and fluxes we determined. Most of the components displayed radial-velocity drifts. We detected a correlation between the flux and radial-velocity variations for some of the components. Variability of the emission can be explained in a model in which the maser spots form elongated chains and filaments with radial-velocity gradients. During H2O flares, the flux increases of some maser spots were accompanied by acceleration, while flux decreases were accompanied by deceleration of their motion in the dense circumstellar matter. Spectral groups of emission features are probably spatially compact structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ceataurus falls into the category of 'imaginary animals'. The Russian tradition used not only the symbol Sgr (a result of its acquaintance with the circle of Zodiac), but also the symbol Cen, which fact, as we shall demonstrate, is an evidence of certain mythological-astronomical conceptions. Both the constellations Sagittarius (Sgr) and Centaurus (Cen) are usually represented as versions of the picture of a fantastic being, a Centaur, shaped as man from head to waist, and as an animal, mostly, a horse, from waist down. 'Centaurus' (from the Greek word κεν (or κενω)) for 'kill' and ταυρ∝, for 'bull') means 'bull killer', and is probably related to the opposition of the zodiacal constellations Taurus and Sagittarius. When the latter begins to rise on to the night sky, the former disappears completely from view. Sagittarius is represented at ancient monuments related to astronomy as a centaur holding a bow and pointing at certain stars. The constellation of Cantanrus is also symbollsed by a centaur, but holding not a bow, but a staff or a spear in one hand and an 'animal of sacrifice' in the other (Higinus, Astronomica, III, 37, I; Chernetsov, 1975, Figure 1). The attributes stand for the Peliases Spear (The Mithological Dictionary, 1991), depicted in astrological maps as The Spear of Centanrus, The Wolf (Lupus), the Panther or the Beast (Flammarion, 1994). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the use of the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) and radio dishes in Chile and Antarctica to image the supermassive black hole in the Milky Way galaxy called Sagittarius A∗ or Sgr A∗ and the bigger black hole in the galaxy M87. Topics covered include the challenges encountered in imaging black holes, the use of the millimeter-sensitive dishes in Hawaii, California and Arizona, and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) international observatory.

The Galactic center 50 km s−1 molecular cloud (50MC) is the most remarkable molecular cloud in the Sagittarius A region. This cloud is a candidate for the massive star formation induced by cloud–cloud collision (CCC) with a collision velocity of ∼30 km s−1 that is estimated from the velocity dispersion. We observed the whole of the 50MC with a high angular resolution (∼2.″0 × 1.″4) in Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array cycle 1 in the H13CO+J = 1−0 and C34S J = 2−1 emission lines. We identified 241 and 129 bound cores with a virial parameter of less than 2, which are thought to be gravitationally bound, in the H13CO+ and C34S maps using the clumpfind algorithm, respectively. In the CCC region, the bound H13CO+ and C34S cores are 119 and 82, whose masses are 68% and 76% of those in the whole 50MC, respectively. The distribution of the core number and column densities in the CCC are biased to larger densities than those in the non-CCC region. The distributions indicate that the CCC compresses the molecular gas and increases the number of the dense bound cores. Additionally, the massive bound cores with masses of >3000 M⊙ exist only in the CCC region, although the slope of the core mass function (CMF) in the CCC region is not different from that in the non-CCC region. We conclude that the compression by the CCC efficiently formed massive bound cores even if the slope of the CMF is not changed so much by the CCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present high angular resolution and high sensitivity images of the "circumnuclear disk" (CND) and the surrounding region of the Milky Way Galaxy in the CS  J = 2–1, SiO v = 0 J = 2–1, H13CO+ J = 1–0, C34S J = 2–1, and CH3OH $$J_{K_a, K_c}=2_{1,1}$$ –11, 0 A −− emission lines using ALMA. The CND is recognized as a torus-like molecular gas with gaps in these emission lines, except for the CH3OH emission line. The inner and outer radii of the CND are estimated to be R in ∼ 1.5 and R out ∼ 2 pc, respectively. The velocities of the rotation and radial motion are estimated to be V rot ∼ 115 km s−1 and V rad ∼ 23 km s−1, respectively. The LTE molecular gas mass is estimated to be M LTE ∼ 3 × 104  M ⊙. We also found some anomalous molecular clouds in the surrounding region. One of the molecular clouds is positionally connected to part of the CND adjacent to the "western arc." However, the cloud is seen to rotate in the opposite direction to the CND, so it could currently be falling from the outer region to the CND and being disrupted by the tidal shear of Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*) because the velocity is not yet assimilated into that of the CND. Another molecular cloud is continuously connected to the tip of the "eastern arm" (EA). The velocity of this cloud is consistent with that of the ionized gas in the EA. These facts suggest that the molecular cloud is falling from the outer region to the vicinity of Sgr A*, being disrupted by the tidal shear, and ionized by strong UV emission from the central cluster because the impact parameter of the cloud is smaller than the first cloud. These falling clouds would play an important role in transferring material from the outer region to the CND and/or the vicinity of Sgr A*. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We obtained deep Gemini GMOS-S g, r photometry of the ultra-faint dwarf galaxy candidate Cetus II with the aim of providing stronger constraints on its size, luminosity, and stellar population. Cetus II is an important object in the size–luminosity plane, as it occupies the transition zone between dwarf galaxies and star clusters. All known objects smaller than Cetus II (rh ∼ 20 pc) are reported to be star clusters, while most larger objects are likely dwarf galaxies. We found a prominent excess of main-sequence stars in the color–magnitude diagram of Cetus II, best described by a single stellar population with an age of 11.2 Gyr, metallicity of [Fe/H] = −1.28 dex, an [α/Fe] = 0.0 dex at a heliocentric distance of 26.3 ± 1.2 kpc. As well as being spatially located within the Sagittarius dwarf tidal stream, these properties are well matched to the Sagittarius galaxy’s Population B stars. Interestingly, like our recent findings on the ultra-faint dwarf galaxy candidate Tucana V, the stellar field in the direction of Cetus II shows no evidence of a concentrated overdensity despite tracing the main sequence for over six magnitudes. These results strongly support the picture that Cetus II is not an ultra-faint stellar system in the Milky Way halo, but made up of stars from the Sagittarius tidal stream. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]