Dense, Parsec-Scale Clumps near the Great Annihilator

TL;DR

This study uses CARMA and JCMT observations to identify dense, parsec-scale molecular clumps near the Great Annihilator, revealing significant mass transport from shock zones to Galactic Center star-forming regions.

Contribution

It provides new high-resolution observations of dense molecular clumps near the Great Annihilator, highlighting their potential role in mass transfer within the Galactic Center.

Findings

Detection of dense gas regions with n ~ 10^5 cm^-3

Estimation of 1-3 x 10^5 solar masses of gas

Identification of small, dense bundles transporting mass

Abstract

We report on Combined Array for Research in Millimeter-Wave Astronomy (CARMA) and James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) observations toward the Einstein source 1E 1740.7-2942, a LMXB commonly known as the "Great Annihilator." The Great Annihilator is known to be near a small, bright molecular cloud on the sky in a region largely devoid of emission in 12-CO surveys of the Galactic Center. The region is of interest because it is interior to the dust lanes which may be the shock zones where atomic gas from HI nuclear disk is converted into molecular gas. We find that the region is populated with a number of dense (n ~ 10^5 cm^-3) regions of excited gas with small filling factors, and estimate that up to 1-3 x 10^5 solar masses of gas can be seen in our maps. The detection suggests that a significant amount of mass is transported from the shock zones to the GC star-forming regions in the form of small, dense bundles.