The turbulent gas structure in the centers of NGC253 and the Milky Way
Nico Krieger, Alberto D. Bolatto, Eric W. Koch, Adam K. Leroy, Erik Rosolowsky, Fabian Walter, Axel Weiß, David J. Eden, Rebecca C. Levy, David S. Meier, Elisab… 展开作者
Nico Krieger, Alberto D. Bolatto, Eric W. Koch, Adam K. Leroy, Erik Rosolowsky, Fabian Walter, Axel Weiß, David J. Eden, Rebecca C. Levy, David S. Meier, Elisabeth A. C. Mills, Toby Moore, Jürgen Ott, Yang Su, Sylvain Veilleux
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13 pages, 3 figures, 4 tables; accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal
We compare molecular gas properties in the starbursting center of NGC253 and the Milky Way Galactic Center (GC) on scales of ~1-100 pc using dendograms and resolution-, area- and noise-matched datasets in CO (1-0) and CO (3-2). We find that the size-line width relations in NGC253 and the GC have similar slope, but NGC253 has larger line widths by factors of ~2-3. The $σ^2/R$ dependency on column density shows that, in the GC, on scales of 10-100 pc the kinematics of gas over $N>3\times10^{21}$ cm$^{-2}$ are compatible with gravitationally bound structures. In NGC253 this is only the case for column densities $N>3\times10^{22}$ cm$^{-2}$. The increased line widths in NGC253 originate in the lower column density gas. This high-velocity dispersion, not gravitationally self-bound gas is likely in transient structures created by the combination of high average densities and feedback in the starburst. The high densities turns the gas molecular throughout the volume of the starburst, and the injection of energy and momentum by feedback significantly increases the velocity dispersion at a given spatial scale over what is observed in the GC.
We analyze Spitzer GLIMPSE, MSX, and WMAP images of the Milky Way to identify 8 micron and free-free sources in the Galaxy. Seventy-two of the eighty-eight WMAP sources have coverage in the GLIMPSE and MSX surveys suitable for identifying massive star forming complexes (SFC). We measure the ionizing luminosity functions of the SFCs and study their role in the turbulent motion of the Galaxy's molecular gas. We find a total Galactic free-free flux f_ν = 46177.6 Jy; the 72 WMAP sources with full 8 micron coverage account for 34263.5 Jy (~75%), with both measurements made at ν=94GHz (W band). We f…
The extent to which turbulence mixes gas in the face of recurrent infusions of fresh metals by supernovae (SN) could help provide important constraints on the local star formation conditions. This includes predictions of the metallicity dispersion amongst metal poor stars, which suggests that the interstellar medium was not very well mixed at these early times. The purpose of this {\it Letter} is to help isolate, via a series of numerical experiments, some of the key processes that regulate turbulent mixing of SN elements in galactic disks. We study the gas interactions in small simulated patc…
We use accurate estimates of aluminium abundance provided as part of the APOGEE Data Release 17 and Gaia Early Data Release 3 astrometry to select a highly pure sample of stars with metallicity $-1.5\lesssim {\rm [Fe/H]}\lesssim 0.5$ born in-situ in the Milky Way proper. We show that the low-metallicity ([Fe/H]$\lesssim -1.3$) in-situ component that we dub Aurora is kinematically hot with an approximately isotropic velocity ellipsoid and a modest net rotation. Aurora stars exhibit large scatter in metallicity and in a number of element abundance ratios. The median tangential velocity of the in…
We study the relationship between the scale-height of the molecular gas disc and the turbulent velocity dispersion of the molecular interstellar medium within a simulation of a Milky Way-like galaxy in the moving-mesh code Arepo. We find that the vertical distribution of molecular gas can be described by a Gaussian function with a uniform scale-height of ~50 pc. We investigate whether this scale-height is consistent with a state of hydrostatic balance between gravity and turbulent pressure. We find that the hydrostatic prediction using the total turbulent velocity dispersion (as one would meas…
In 2019, the Galactic center black hole Sgr A* produced an unusually high number of bright near-infrared flares, including the brightest-ever detected flare (Do et al 2019, Gravity Collaboration 2020). We propose that this activity was triggered by the near simultaneous infall of material shed by G1 and G2 objects due to their interaction with the background accretion flow. We discuss mechanisms by which S-stars and G-objects shed material, and estimate both the quantity of material and the infall time to reach the black hole.
The magnetic fields observed in the Milky~Way and nearby galaxies appear to be in equipartition with the turbulent, thermal, and cosmic ray energy densities, and hence are expected to be dynamically important. However, the origin of these strong magnetic fields is still unclear, and most previous attempts to simulate galaxy formation from cosmological initial conditions have ignored them altogether. Here, we analyse the magnetic fields predicted by the simulations of the Auriga Project, a set of 30 high-resolution cosmological zoom simulations of Milky~Way-like galaxies, carried out with a mov…
Motivated by recent studies suggesting that the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) could be significantly more massive than previously thought, we explore whether the approximation of an inertial Galactocentric reference frame is still valid in the presence of such a massive LMC. We find that previous estimates of the LMC's orbital period and apocentric distance derived assuming a fixed Milky Way are significantly shortened for models where the Milky Way is allowed to move freely in response to the gravitational pull of the LMC. Holding other parameters fixed, the fraction of models favoring first i…
The probability distribution functions (PDFs) of the average densities of the diffuse ionized gas (DIG) and the diffuse atomic gas are close to lognormal, especially when lines of sight at |b|<5 degree and |b|>5 degree are considered separately. Our results provide strong support for the existence of a lognormal density PDF in the diffuse ISM, consistent with a turbulent origin of density structure in the diffuse gas.
We study turbulent gas diffusion affects on $r$-process abundances in Milky Way stars, by a combination of an analytical approach and a Monte Carlo simulation. Higher $r$-process event rates and faster diffusion, lead to more efficient mixing corresponding to a reduced scatter of $r$-process abundances and causing $r$-process enriched stars to start appearing at lower metallicities. We use three independent observations to constrain the model parameters: (i) the scatter of radioactively stable $r$-process element abundances, (ii) the largest $r$-process enrichment values observed in any solar …
CONTEXT. The maximum size of the Galactic stellar disk is not yet known. Some studies have suggested an abrupt drop-off of the stellar density of the disk at Galactocentric distances $R\gtrsim 15$ kpc, which means that in practice no disk stars or only very few of them should be found beyond this limit. However, stars in the Milky Way plane are detected at larger distances. In addition to the halo component, star counts have placed the end of the disk beyond 20 kpc, although this has not been spectroscopically confirmed so far. AIMS. Here, we aim to spectroscopically confirm the presence of th…
We report on the presence of large amounts of million-degree gas in the Milky Way's interstellar and circum-galactic medium. This gas (1) permeates both the Galactic plane and the halo, (2) extends to distances larger than 60-200 kpc from the center, and (3) its mass is sufficient to close the Galaxy's baryon census. Moreover, we show that a vast, $\sim 6$ kpc radius, spherically-symmetric central region of the Milky Way above and below the 0.16 kpc thick plane, has either been emptied of hot gas or the density of this gas within the cavity has a peculiar profile, increasing from the center up…
Modeling the Milky Way wind: Supernova-driven outflows accelerate HI clouds near the Galactic center
Università di Firenze（佛罗伦萨大学）；INAF - Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri（意大利国家天体物理研究所阿切特里天文台）；Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics, The Australian National University（澳大利亚国立大学天文学与天体物理学研究学院）
Nuclear star clusters are located at the dynamical centers of the majority of galaxies. They are usually the densest and most massive star cluster in their host galaxy. In this article, I will give a brief overview of our current knowledge on nuclear star clusters and their formation. Subsequently, I will introduce the nuclear star cluster at the center of the Milky Way, that surrounds the massive black hole, Sagittarius A*. This cluster is a unique template for understanding nuclear star clusters in general because it is the only one of its kind which we can resolve into individual stars. Thu…
An oscillating vertical displacement of the Milky Way, with a wavelength of about 8 kpc and and amplitude of about 100 pc (increasing with distance from the Galactic center) is observed towards the Galactic anticenter. These oscillations are thought to be the result of disk perturbations from dwarf satellites of the Milky Way. They explain the Monoceros Ring and could be related to Milky Way spiral structure.
Observations of the INTEGRAL satellite revealed the presence of yet unexplained excess in the central region of the Galaxy at the energies around 511 keV. These gamma-rays are produced in the process of positron annihilation, the needed rate is around $10^{42}~\mathrm{s^{-1}}$. In this short paper it is shown that \pos -emitting isotopes that are formed in interactions of subrelativistic cosmic rays (CRs) with light nuclei (CNONe) can account for a considerable fraction -- up to several tens of percent -- of $e^{+}$ production rate in the central region.
We know that our Galaxy is permeated by tenuous, hot, metal-rich gas. However much remains unknown about its origin, the portion of the Galaxy that it permeates, its total mass, as any role it may play in regulating activity in the Galaxy. In a Letter currently in the press with the ApJ, we show that this hot gas permeates both the disk of the Galaxy and a large spherical volume, centered on the Galactic nucleus, and extending out to distances of at least 60-200 kpc from the center. This gas displays a peculiar density distribution that peaks about 6 kpc from the Galaxy's center, likely witnes…
We use Hubble Space Telescope imaging to measure the absolute proper motion of the hypervelocity star (HVS) HE 0437-5439, a short-lived B star located in the direction of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). We observe (μ_α, μ_δ)=(+0.53+-0.25(stat)+-0.33(sys), +0.09+-0.21(stat)+-0.48(sys)) mas/yr. The velocity vector points directly away from the center of the Milky Way; an origin from the center of the LMC is ruled out at the 3-sigma level. The flight time of the HVS from the Milky Way exceeds its main-sequence lifetime, thus its stellar nature requires it to be a blue straggler. The large space…
The Central Molecular Zone (CMZ) is a ring-like accumulation of molecular gas in the innermost few hundred parsecs of the Milky Way, generated by the inward transport of matter driven by the Galactic bar. The CMZ is the most extreme star-forming environment in the Galaxy. The unique combination of large-scale dynamics and extreme interstellar medium conditions, characterised by high densities, temperatures, pressures, turbulent motions, and strong magnetic fields, make the CMZ an ideal region for testing current star and planet formation theories. We review the recent observational and theoret…
The halo stars on highly radial orbits should inevitably pass the center regions of the Milky Way. Under the assumption that the stellar halo is in dynamical equilibrium and axisymmetric, we integrate the orbits of $\sim 10,000$ halo K-giants at $5\leq r \leq 50$ kpc cross-matched from LAMOST DR5 and $Gaia$ DR3. By carefully considering the selection function, we construct the stellar halo distribution at the entire regions of $r \leq 50$ kpc. We find that a double-broken power-law function well describes the stellar halo density distribution with shallower slopes in the inner regions and the …
I discuss feeding and feedback processes observed in the inner few hundred parsecs of nearby active galaxies using integral field spectroscopy at spatial resolutions of a few to tens of parsecs. Signatures of feedback include outflows from the nucleus with velocities ranging from 200 to 1000km/s, with mass outflow rates between 0.5 and a few Msun/yr. Signatures of feeding include the observation of gas inflows along nuclear spirals and filaments, with velocities ranging from 50 to 100km/s and mass flow rates from 0.1 to 1 Msun/yr. These rates are 2--3 orders of magnitude larger than the mass a…
High redshift disc galaxies are more gas rich, clumpier, and more turbulent than local Universe galaxies. This early era of galaxy formation imprints the distribution and kinematics of the stars that we observe today, but it is not yet well established how. In this work, we use simulations of isolated Milky Way-mass disc galaxies to study how kinematic properties of stars change when varying the gas fraction. This allows us to quantify the roles played by internal processes, e.g. gas turbulence and gravitational scattering off massive gas clumps, in establishing the observed stellar velocity d…
We present predictions of the Si iv ions in turbulent mixing layers (TMLs) between hot and cool gas and in cool high-velocity clouds (HVCs) that travel through a hot halo, complementing the C iv, N v, and O vi predictions in Kwak & Shelton, Kwak et al., and Henley et al. We find that the Si iv ions are most abundant in regions where the hot and cool gases first begin to mix or where the mixed gas has cooled significantly. The predicted column densities of high velocity Si iv and the predicted ratios of Si iv to C iv and O vi found on individual sightlines in our HVC simulations are in good agr…
Although there have been numerous studies of chemical abundances in the Galactic bulge, the central two degrees have been relatively unexplored due to the heavy and variable interstellar extinction, extreme stellar crowding, and the presence of complex foreground disk stellar populations. In this paper we discuss the metallicity distribution function, vertical and radial gradients and chemical abundances of $α$-elements in the inner two degrees of the Milky Way, as obtained by recent IR spectroscopic surveys. We use a compilation of recent measurements of metallicities and $α$-element abundanc…
We examine the role of the large-scale galactic-dynamical environment in setting the properties of giant molecular clouds in Milky Way-like galaxies. We perform three high-resolution simulations of Milky Way-like discs with the moving-mesh hydrodynamics code Arepo, yielding a statistical sample of $\sim 80,000$ giant molecular clouds and $\sim 55,000$ HI clouds. We account for the self-gravity of the gas, momentum and thermal energy injection from supernovae and HII regions, mass injection from stellar winds, and the non-equilibrium chemistry of hydrogen, carbon and oxygen. By varying the exte…
We present a metallicity analysis of 83 late-type giants within the central 1 pc of the Milky Way. K-band spectroscopy of these stars were obtained with the medium-spectral resolution integral-field spectrograph NIFS on Gemini North using laser-guide star adaptive optics. Using spectral template fitting with the MARCS synthetic spectral grid, we find that there is large variation in metallicity, with stars ranging from [M/H] $<$ -1.0 to above solar metallicity. About 6\% of the stars have [M/H] $<$ -0.5. This result is in contrast to previous observations, with smaller samples, that show stars…
We report parallaxes and proper motions of three water maser sources in high-mass star-forming regions in the Outer Spiral Arm of the Milky Way. The observations were conducted with the Very Long Baseline Array as part of Bar and Spiral Structure Legacy Survey and double the number of such measurements in the literature. The Outer Arm has a pitch angle of 14.9 +/- 2.7 deg and a Galactocentric distance of 14.1 +/- 0.6 kpc toward the Galactic anticenter. The average motion of these sources toward the Galactic center is 10.7 +/- 2.1 km/s and we see no sign of a significant fall in the rotation cu…
We test a particular theory of dark matter in which dark matter axions form ring "caustics" in the plane of the Milky Way against actual observations of Milky Way stars. According to this theory, cold, collisionless dark matter particles with angular momentum flow in and out of the Milky Way on sheets. These flows form caustic rings (at the positions of the rings, the density of the flow is formally infinite) at the locations of closest approach to the Galactic center. We show that the caustic ring dark matter theory reproduces a roughly logarithmic halo, with large perturbations near the ring…
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 …
The close environment of the central supermassive black hole of our Galaxy is studied thoroughly since decades in order to shed light on the behavior of the central regions of galaxies in general and of active galaxies in particular. The Galactic Center has shown a wealth of structures on different scales with a complicated mixture of early- and late-type stars, ionized and molecular gas, dust and winds. Here we aim at studying the distribution of water ices and hydrocarbons in the central parsec as well as along the line of sight. This study is made possible thanks to L-band spectroscopy. Thi…
We present a scenario of the chemical enrichment of the solar neighborhood that solves the G-dwarf problem by taking into account constraints on a larger scale. We argue that the Milky Way disk within 10 kpc has been enriched to solar metallicity by a massive stellar population: the thick disk, which itself formed from a massive turbulent gaseous disk. The key new consideration is that the pre-enrichment provided by the thick disk is not related to the mass fraction of this stellar population at the solar radius, as is classically assumed in inside-out scenarios, but is actually related to the…
The supermassive black hole (SMBH), Sgr A*, at the Galactic Center is surrounded by a molecular circumnuclear disk (CND) lying between 1.5-4 pc radii. The irregular and clumpy structures of the CND, suggest dynamical evolution and episodic feeding of gas towards the central SMBH. New sensitive data from the SMA and GBT, reveal several >5-10 pc scale molecular arms, which either directly connect to the CND, or may penetrate inside the CND. The CND appears to be the convergence of the innermost parts of largescale gas streamers, which are responding to the central gravitational potential well. R…
Here we statistically evaluate recent advances in determining the Sun-Galactic Center distance (Rsun) as well as recent measures of the orbital velocity around the Galactic Center (Vlsr), and the angular rotation parameters of various objects. Recent statistical results point to Rsun = 8.0 +- 0.2 kpc, Vlsr= 230 +- 3 km/s, and angular rotation at the Sun (ω) near 29 +- 1 km/s/kpc for the gas and stars at the Local Standard of Rest, and near 23 +- 2 km/s/kpc for the spiral pattern itself. This angular difference is similar to what had been predicted by density wave models, along with the observa…
An up-to-date overview of the recent history is given, aiming to present a helpful working guide to the literature and at the same time introduce key systems and observational results, starting from the Sun and going towards the Galactic Center and parts of the Zona Galactica Incognita, and beyond. We start by presenting an observational view of the Milky Way's disk plane (cartographic. dynamical, chemical cross-cut, magnetic). This included the four long spiral arms in the disk of the Milky Way (fig.1), their geometry (fig.2), component, velocity (fig.3), their widths and internal layers as w…
Gould's Belt is a flat local system composed of young OB stars, molecular clouds and neutral hydrogen within 500 pc from the Sun. It is inclined about 20 degrees to the galactic plane and its velocity field significantly deviates from rotation around the distant center of the Milky Way. We discuss possible models of its origin: free expansion from a point or from a ring, expansion of a shell, or a collision of a high velocity cloud with the plane of the Milky Way. Currently, no convincing model exists. Similar structures are identified in HI and CO distribution in our and other nearby galaxies…
Nuclear Star Clusters are observed at the center of many galaxies. In particular in the center of the Milky Way the Nuclear Star Cluster coexists with a cen- tral supermassive black hole. The origin of these clusters is still unknown; a possible formation mechanism is the decay of massive globular clusters driven inward to the galactic center by dynamical friction and their subsequent merging. By investigating this scenario by means of sophisticated N-body simulations we found that this process could lead to a final product which actually shows many of the observed features of the Milky Way Nu…
Using Milky Way data of the new Effelsberg-Bonn HI Survey (EBHIS) and the Galactic All-Sky Survey (GASS), we present a revised picture of the high-velocity cloud (HVC) complex Galactic Center Negative (GCN). Owing to the higher angular resolution of these surveys compared to previous studies (e.g., the Leiden Dwingeloo Survey), we resolve Complex GCN into lots of individual tiny clumps, that mostly have relatively broad line widths of more than 15 km/s. We do not detect a diffuse extended counterpart, which is unusual for an HVC complex. In total 243 clumps were identified and parameterized wh…
Flat rotation curves of spiral galaxies are considered as an evidence for dark matter, but the rotation curve of the Milky Way is difficult to measure. Various objects were used to track the rotation curve in the outer parts of the Galaxy, but most studies rely on incomplete kinematical information and inaccurate distances. Here, we use a sample of 773 Classical Cepheids with precise distances based on mid-infrared period-luminosity relations coupled with proper motions and radial velocities from Gaia to construct the accurate rotation curve of the Milky Way up to the distance of ~20 kpc from …
We report the possible discovery of a new stellar system (YMCA-1), identified during a search for small scale overdensities in the photometric data of the YMCA survey. The object's projected position lies on the periphery of the Large Magellanic Cloud about $13^\circ$ apart from its center. The most likely interpretation of its color-magnitude diagram, as well as of its integrated properties, is that YMCA-1 may be an old and remote star cluster of the Milky Way at a distance of 100 kpc from the Galactic center. If this scenario could be confirmed, then the cluster would be significantly fainte…
We detect a line at 3.539 +/- 0.011 keV in the deep exposure dataset of the Galactic Center region, observed with the XMM-Newton. The dark matter interpretation of the signal observed in the Perseus galaxy cluster, the Andromeda galaxy [1402.4119] and in the stacked spectra of galaxy clusters [1402.2301], together with non-observation of the line in blank sky data, put both lower and upper limits on the possible intensity of the line in the Galactic Center data. Our result is consistent with these constraints for a class of Milky Way mass models, presented previously by observers, and would co…
The distance to the Galactic center inferred from OGLE RR Lyrae variables observed in the direction of the bulge is Ro=8.1+-0.6 kpc. An accurate determination of Ro is hindered by countless effects that include an ambiguous extinction law, a bias for smaller values of Ro because of a preferential sampling of variable stars toward the near side of the bulge owing to extinction, and an uncertainty in characterizing how a mean distance to the group of variable stars relates to Ro. A VI-based period-reddening relation for RR Lyrae variables is derived to map extinction throughout the bulge. The re…
We have used the IRAM Plateau de Bure Interferometer and the Expanded Very Large Array to obtain a high resolution map of the CO(6-5) and CO(1-0) emission in the lensed, star-forming galaxy SMMJ2135-0102 at z=2.32. The kinematics of the gas are well described by a model of a rotationally-supported disk with an inclination-corrected rotation speed, v_rot = 320+/-25km/s, a ratio of rotational- to dispersion- support of v/sigma=3.5+/-0.2 and a dynamical mass of 6.0+/-0.5x10^10Mo within a radius of 2.5kpc. The disk has a Toomre parameter, Q=0.50+/-0.15, suggesting the gas will rapidly fragment int…
We study the time evolution of molecular clouds across three Milky Way-like isolated disc galaxy simulations at a temporal resolution of 1 Myr, and at a range of spatial resolutions spanning two orders of magnitude in spatial scale from ~10 pc up to ~1 kpc. The cloud evolution networks generated at the highest spatial resolution contain a cumulative total of ~80,000 separate molecular clouds in different galactic-dynamical environments. We find that clouds undergo mergers at a rate proportional to the crossing time between their centroids, but that their physical properties are largely insensi…
I use the distances and motions of Local Group galaxies to test Modified Newtonian Dynamics (MOND). The old Local Group timing argument of Kahn & Woltjer, which assumed Newtonian gravity and a simple radial orbit, indicated that the total mass of M31 and the Milky Way far exceeds their known baryonic mass. Here I apply MOND to study the same problem. With the same radial orbit assumption, I find that the total mass of M31 and the Milky Way predicted by MOND is less than the known baryonic masses of these two galaxies. I find a similar result holds for all the dwarf galaxies in the Local Group,…
Sagittarius A*, the super-massive black hole at the center of the Milky Way, is surrounded by a small cluster of high velocity stars, known as the S-stars. We aim to constrain the amount and nature of stellar and dark mass associated with the cluster in the immediate vicinity of Sagittarius A*. We use near-infrared imaging to determine the $K_\mathrm{s}$-band luminosity function of the S-star cluster members, and the distribution of the diffuse background emission and the stellar number density counts around the central black hole. This allows us to determine the stellar light and mass contrib…
We show that the position of the central dark matter density peak may be expected to differ from the dynamical center of the Galaxy by several hundred parsec. In Eris, a high resolution cosmological hydrodynamics simulation of a realistic Milky-Way-analog disk galaxy, this offset is 300 - 400 pc (~3 gravitational softening lengths) after z=1. In its dissipationless dark-matter-only twin simulation ErisDark, as well as in the Via Lactea II and GHalo simulations, the offset remains below one softening length for most of its evolution. The growth of the DM offset coincides with a flattening of th…
Context. Although a variety of techniques have been employed for determining the Milky Way dark matter halo mass distribution, the range of allowed masses spans both light and heavy values. Knowing the precise mass of our Galaxy is important for placing the Milky Way in a cosmological $Λ$CDM context. Aims. We show that hypervelocity stars (HVSs) ejected from the center of the Milky Way galaxy can be used to constrain the mass of its dark matter halo. Methods. We use the asymmetry in the radial velocity distribution of halo stars due to escaping HVSs, which depends on the halo potential (escape…
The existence of stellar cusps in dense clusters around massive black holes is a fundamental, decades-old prediction of theoretical stellar dynamics. Yet, observational evidence has been difficult to obtain. With a new, improved analysis of high-angular resolution images of the central parsecs of the Galactic Center, we are finally able to provide the first solid evidence for the existence of a stellar cusp around the Milky Way's massive black hole. The existence of stellar cusps has a significant impact on predicted event rates of phenomena like tidal disruptions of stars and extreme mass rat…
We review the~current status of the~study of rotation curve (RC) of the~Milky Way, and~present a~unified RC from the~Galactic Center to the galacto-centric distance of about 100 kpc. The~RC is used to directly calculate the~distribution of the~surface mass density (SMD). We then propose a~method to derive the~distribution of dark matter (DM) density in the~in the~Milky Way using the~SMD distribution. The~best-fit dark halo profile yielded a local DM density of $ρ_\odot = 0.36\pm 0.02$ GeV/cc. We also review the~estimations of the~local DM density in the~last decade, and~show that the~value is …
The fuzzy dark matter model (FDM, also known as quantum wave dark matter model) argues that light bosons with a mass of $\sim10^{-22}{\;{\rm eV}}$ are a possible candidate for dark matter in the Universe. One of the most important predictions of FDM is the formation of a soliton core instead of a density cusp at the center of galaxies. If FDM is the correct theory of dark matter, then the predicted soliton core can help to form the Central Molecular Zone (CMZ) in the Milky Way. We present high-resolution hydrodynamical simulations of gas flow patterns to constrain the properties of the soliton…
We present the first systematic study of the density structure of clouds found in a complete sample covering all major molecular clouds in the Central Molecular Zone (CMZ; inner $\sim{}200~\rm{}pc$) of the Milky Way. This is made possible by using data from the Galactic Center Molecular Cloud Survey (GCMS), the first study resolving all major molecular clouds in the CMZ at interferometer angular resolution. We find that many CMZ molecular clouds have unusually shallow density gradients compared to regions elsewhere in the Milky Way. This is possibly a consequence of weak gravitational binding …
We identify shell structures in the Milky Way for the first time. We find 2 shells in the Virgo Overdensity (VOD) region and 2 shells in the Hercules Aquila Cloud (HAC) region using Sloan Digital Sky Survey, Gaia, and LAMOST data. These shell stars are a subset of the substructure previously identified as the Virgo Radial Merger (VRM). Timing arguments for these shells indicate that their progenitor dwarf galaxy passed through the Galactic center 2.7 +/- 0.2 Gyr ago. Based on the time of collision, it is also possible that the VRM is related to the phenomenon that created phase-space spirals i…
We explore the origin of a population of stars recently detected in the inner parsec of the Milky Way Nuclear Cluster (NC), which exhibit sub-solar metallicity and a higher rotation compared to the dominant population. Using state-of-the-art $N$-body simulations, we model the infall of a massive stellar system into the Galactic center, both of Galactic and extra-galactic origin. We show that the newly discovered population can either be the remnant of a massive star cluster formed a few kpc away from the Galactic center (Galactic scenario) or be accreted from a dwarf galaxy originally located …
