The Milky Way's Central Molecular Zone

Abstract

This review compiles the results of recent studies of molecular gas conditions in the central six hundred parsecs of our Galaxy. The review begins by placing our Galactic center into context with the rest of our galaxy. It next discusses the wealth of previous research on the Galactic center, before focusing on what is known about the molecular interstellar medium in this region. It focuses especially on a surge in interest in this region and new studies conducted in the last five years. It concludes by highlighting open questions that remain, and the potential for new facilities such as ALMA to make progress in resolving these uncertainties.

Review from the Proceedings of the Frank N. Bash Symposium 2015 (BASH2015). 18-20 October. The University of Texas at Austin, USA. Contains additional Section 3 on Open Questions and New Frontiers that was not published in original PoS review

References in corpus (6)

• Giant Gamma-ray Bubbles from Fermi-LAT: AGN Activity or Bipolar Galactic Wind?
• The dynamical evolution of molecular clouds near the Galactic Centre - I. Orbital structure and evolutionary timeline
• Star Formation in the Central 400 pc of the Milky Way: Evidence for a Population of Massive YSOs
• Evidence for a Long-Standing Top-Heavy IMF in the Central Parsec of the Galaxy
• Absorption Line Survey of H3+ toward the Galactic Center Sources II. Eight Infrared Sources within 30 pc of the Galactic Center
• Main-sequence stars masquerading as Young Stellar Objects in the central molecular zone

Cited by in corpus (3)

• Molecular Clouds as the Origin of the Fermi Gamma-Ray GeV-Excess
• Sensitivity of the Cherenkov Telescope Array to a dark matter signal from the Galactic centre
• 6.7 GHz CH3OH absorption towards the N3 Galactic Center point-source