Thermal SiO and H13CO+Line Observations of the Dense Molecular Cloud G0.11−0.11 in the Galactic Center Region

We obtained the first view in H$^{13}$CO$^+$ $J=1-0$ and a high resolution map in thermal SiO lines of G0.11$-$0.11, which is a molecular cloud situated between the Galactic Center radio arc and Sgr A. From a comparison with previous line observations, we found that the H$^{13}$CO$^+$ $J=1-0$ line is optically thin, whereas the thermal SiO lines are optically thick. The line intensity in H$^{13}$CO$^+$ $J=1-0$ shows that the cloud has a large column density, up to $N(\mathrm{H}_2)=(6-7)\times10^{23} \mathrm{cm^{-2}}$, which corresponds to about 640--740 mag in $A_{\mathrm{V}}$ or 10--12 mag in $A_{25\mu\mathrm{m}}$. The estimated column density is the largest known of any even in the Galactic center region. We conclude from the intensity ratio of SiO $J=1-0$ to CS $J=1-0$ that emitting gas is highly inhomogeneous for SiO abundance on a scale smaller than the beam width $\sim$35\arcsec.
Comment: 11 pages, 4 figure pages, accepted for publication in ApJ