SiO IN THE SGR B2 REGION

The 2-1 and 5-4 transitions of SiO have been observed toward the Sgr B2 region, including the Principal Cloud(the GMC containing Sgr B2(M)) and its surroundings. The morphology and velocity structure of the SiO emission show a close resemblance with the HNCO Ring feature, identified by Minh & Irvine(2006), of about 10 pc in diameter, which may be expanding and colliding with the Principal Cloud. Three SiO clumps have been found around the Ring, with total column densities $N_{SiO}{\sim}1{\times}10^{14}cm^{-2}$ at the peak positions of these clumps. The fractional SiO abundance relative to $H_2$ has been estimated to be ${\sim}(0.5-1){\times}10^{-9}$, which is about two orders of magnitude larger than the quiet dense cloud values. Our SiO observational result supports the existence of an expanding ring, which may be triggering active star formations in the Principal Cloud.