Molecular Gas Feeding the Circumnuclear Disk of the Galactic Center

Abstract

The interaction between a supermassive black hole (SMBH) and the surrounding material is of primary importance in modern astrophysics. The detection of the molecular 2-pc circumnuclear disk (CND) immediately around the Milky Way SMBH, SgrA*, provides an unique opportunity to study SMBH accretion at sub-parsec scales. Our new wide-field CS(2-1) map toward the Galactic center (GC) reveals multiple dense molecular streamers originated from the ambient clouds 20-pc further out, and connecting to the central 2 parsecs of the CND. These dense gas streamers appear to carry gas directly toward the nuclear region and might be captured by the central potential. Our phase-plot analysis indicates that these streamers show a signature of rotation and inward radial motion with progressively higher velocities as the gas approaches the CND and finally ends up co-rotating with the CND. Our results might suggest a possible mechanism of gas feeding the CND from 20 pc around 2 pc in the GC. In this paper, we discuss the morphology and the kinematics of these streamers. As the nearest observable Galactic nucleus, this feeding process may have implications for understanding the processes in extragalactic nuclei.

arXiv comment32 pages, 13 figures. Accepted for publication in ApJ

References in corpus (26)

• The Galactic Center Massive Black Hole and Nuclear Star Cluster
• Stellar Orbits Around the Galactic Center Black Hole
• HCN and HCO+ Observations of the Galactic Circumnuclear Disk
• Gas infall towards Sgr A* from the clumpy circumnuclear disk
• The Dynamics of Molecular Material Within 15 pcs of the Galactic Center
• On the Formation of Compact Stellar Disks Around Sgr A*
• The Circumnuclear Material in the Galactic Centre: A Clue to the Accretion Process
• The Nature of the Molecular Environment within 5 pc of the Galactic Center
• Surviving the hole I: Spatially resolved chemistry around Sgr A*
• The Excitation of HCN and HCO+ in the Galactic Center Circumnuclear Disk
• Molecular Tracers of the Central 12 pc of the Galactic Center
• GREAT confirms transient nature of the circumnuclear disk
• SOFIA/FORCAST Imaging of the Circumnuclear Ring at the Galactic Center
• NH3 in the Central 10 pc of the Galaxy I: General Morphology and Kinematic Connections Between the CND and GMCs
• Chemical Features in the Circumnuclear Disk of the Galactic Center
• The Galactic Centre in the Far Infrared
• Milky Way Supermassive Black Hole: Dynamical Feeding from the Circumnuclear Environment
• Mapping photodissociation and shocks in the vicinity of Sgr A*
• The dynamics of the Circumnuclear Disk and its environment in the Galactic centre
• Modelling the formation of the circumnuclear ring in the Galactic centre
• An analysis of HCN observations of the Circumnuclear Disk at the galactic centre
• Statistical Properties of Molecular Clumps in the Galactic Center 50 km s${}^{-1}$ Molecular Cloud
• Physical Contact between the +20 km/s Cloud and the Galactic Circumnuclear Disk
• The Fossil Nuclear Outflow in the Central 30 pc of the Galactic Center
• Interaction between the Northeastern Boundary of Sgr A East and Giant Molecular Clouds
• The connecting molecular ridge in the Galactic center

Cited by in corpus (23)

• Observational Constraints on the Feeding of Supermassive Black Holes
• Simulations of the Milky Way's central molecular zone -- I. Gas dynamics
• AGN Feedback and Star Formation of Quasar Host Galaxies: Insights from the Molecular Gas
• The Circumnuclear Disk Revealed by ALMA. I. Dense Clouds and Tides in the Galactic Center
• ALMA View of the Circum-nuclear Disk of the Galactic Center; Tidally-disrupted Molecular Clouds falling to the Galactic Center
• A Magnetic Field Connecting the Galactic Center Circumnuclear Disk with Streamers and Mini-spiral -Implications from 850 $\mu$m Polarization Data
• Enhanced Star Formation Efficiency in the Central Regions of Nearby Quasars Hosts
• The Strength of the Sheared Magnetic Field in the Galactic's Circum-Nuclear Disk
• Tracing the Milky Way's Vestigial Nuclear Jet
• High-speed molecular cloudlets around the Galactic Center supermassive black hole
• Effects of turbulence in the Circumnuclear Disk
• Rapid Growth of Galactic Supermassive Black Holes through Accreting Giant Molecular Clouds during Major Mergers of their Host Galaxies
• The Nuclear Filaments inside the Circumnuclear Disk in the Central 0.5 pc of the Galactic center
• 25 years of XMM-Newton observations of the Sgr A complex: 3D distribution and internal structure of the clouds
• Chandra X-ray Measurement of Gas-phase Heavy Element Abundances in the Central Parsec of the Galaxy
• The Evaporating Massive Embedded Stellar Cluster IRS 13 Close to Sgr A*. II. Kinematic structure
• A common origin for the circumnuclear disc and the nearby molecular clouds in the Galactic Centre
• Feeding of active galactic nuclei by dynamical perturbations
• Hydrodynamic Evolution of Sgr A East: The Imprint of A Supernova Remnant in the Galactic Center
• Iron K-alpha echoes from the circumnuclear disk orbiting Sgr A*
• The Discovery of an Active Wind from the Milky Way's Black Hole
• The Complex Magnetic Field of the Extreme Galactic Center: PRIMA Science Potential
• Binary Dynamics and Mergers in a Stellar Disk and the Formation of Dusty Objects in the Galactic Center