• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.30 no.2
• /
• pp.133-137
• /
• 2015

The Galactic center uniquely provides opportunities to resolve how star clusters form in neutral gas overdensities engulfed in a large-scale accretion flow. We have performed sensitive Green Bank 100m Telescope (GBT), Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (JVLA), and Submillimeter Array (SMA) mapping observations of molecular gas and thermal dust emission surrounding the Galaxy's supermassive black hole (SMBH) Sgr $A^{\ast}$. We resolved several molecular gas streams orbiting the center on ${\gtrsim}10$ pc scales. Some of these gas streams appear connected to the well-known 2-4 pc scale molecular circumnuclear disk (CND). The CND may be the tidally trapped inner part of the large-scale accretion flow, which incorporates inflow via exterior gas filaments/arms, and ultimately feeds gas toward Sgr $A^{\ast}$. Our high resolution GBT+JVLA $NH_3$ images and SMA+JCMT 0.86 mm dust continuum image consistently reveal abundant dense molecular clumps in this region. These gas clumps are characterized by ${\gtrsim}100$ times higher virial masses than the derived molecular gas masses based on 0.86 mm dust continuum emission. In addition, Class I $CH_3OH$ masers and some $H_2O$ masers are observed to be well associated with the dense clumps. We propose that the resolved gas clumps may be pressurized gas reservoirs for feeding the formation of 1-10 solar-mass stars. These sources may be the most promising candidates for ALMA to probe the process of high-mass star-formation in the Galactic center.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.41 no.6
• /
• pp.163-172
• /
• 2008

Using the spectral data in the 3700 to $10050{\AA}$ wavelength range secured with the Hamilton Echelle Spectrograph (HES) at the Lick observatory, we have investigated the expansion velocities and the physical conditions of the elliptical planetary nebula NGC 6803. Various forbidden and permitted lines, e.g. HI, HeI, HeII, [OIII], [NII], [ArIII], and [SII], indicate complicated but systematic physical conditions variation: electron temperatures $T_{\varepsilon}\;{\sim}\;9000$ - 11000 K and electron number densities $N_{\varepsilon}\;{\sim}\;2000$ - $9000\;cm^{-3}$. The line profile analysis of these ions also indicates the systematic change or the acceleration of the expansion velocities in the range of 10 - $22\;km\;s^{-1}$. We show that the velocity gradient and physical condition found in various ions are closely related to the prolate ellipsoidal structure of NGC 6803. The expansion velocity and the ionic abundance of $O^{2+}$ were derived based on the OII and [OIII] lines. In spite of the discrepancy of ionic abundances derived by the two cases and their line profiles, the expansion velocities of them agree well. We find that the ratios of the red to blue line component of the HeII & OII lines are different from those of the [OIII] or other forbidden lines that indicates a possible involvement of emission of HeII & OII lines. This subtle difference and the different physical condition of the lines are likely to be caused by the elongated geometry and the latitude dependence of the emission zone.