Early formation and recent starburst activity in the nuclear disc of the Milky Way

TL;DR

This study reveals the complex star formation history of the Milky Way's nuclear disc, showing early formation, a long quiescent period, and recent starburst activity, challenging previous assumptions of continuous star formation.

Contribution

First detailed star formation history of the Milky Way's nuclear disc, highlighting a major starburst event about 1 Gyr ago and revising understanding of galactic center evolution.

Findings

Major starburst occurred around 1 Gyr ago, forming about 5% of the mass.

Stars formed predominantly over 8 billion years ago, with subsequent lower-level activity.

Long quiescent period suggests recent formation of the galactic bar or inefficient gas transport.

Abstract

The nuclear disc is a dense stellar structure at the centre of the Milky Way, with a radius of $\sim$150 pc. It has been a place of intense star formation in the past several tens of millions of years but its overall formation history has remained unknown up to now. Here we report the first detailed star formation history of this region. The bulk of its stars formed at least eight billion years ago. This initial activity was followed by a long period of quiescence that was ended by an outstanding event about 1 Gyr ago, during which roughly 5% of its mass formed in a time window $\sim$100 Myr, in what may arguably have been one of the most energetic events in the history of the Milky Way. Star formation continued subsequently on a lower level, creating a few percent of the stellar mass in the past $\sim$500 Myr, with an increased rate up to $\sim$30 Myr ago. Our findings contradict the previously accepted paradigm of quasi-continuous star formation at the centre of the Milky Way. The long quiescent phase agrees with the overall quiescent history of the Milky Way and suggests that our Galaxy's bar may not have existed until recently, or that gas transport through the bar was extremely inefficient during a long stretch of the Milky Way's life, and that the central black hole may have acquired most of its mass already in the early days of the Milky Way.