The OH-streamer in Sagittarius A revisited : Analysis of hydroxyl absorption within 10 pc from the Galactic centre

• Aims. We study the structure and kinematics of the OH-streamer and the +80 km s(-1) cloud and their interactions with the circumnu-clear disk (CND) and with other molecular clouds in the vicinity of the Galactic centre (GC), and we map OH absorption at about 6 '' resolution at R <= 10 pc from the GC, with about 9 km s(-1) of velocity resolution. Methods. The VLA was used to map OH line absorption at the 1665 and 1667 MHz lambda doublet main lines of the (2)Pi(3/2) state towards the Sagittarius A complex. Results. Strong OH absorption was found in the OH-streamer, the southern streamer (SS), the +20, +50, and +80 km s(-1) molecular clouds, the molecular belt, the CND, the expanding molecular ring (EMR), and the high negative velocity gas (HNVG). The OH-streamer was found to comprise three parts, head, mid, and tail, and to interact with the SS/+20, +80 km s(-1) clouds and the CND. Optical depths and column densities divided by excitation temperatures have been calculated for the OH-streamer and the +80 km s(-1) cloud. Conclusions. The OH-streamer, the SS, the +20 and +80 km s(-1) clouds, and the CND are intimately related in position and velocity space. The OH-streamer was found to be a clumpy object stretching in projection from the inner radius of the CND at about 1.8 pc from Sgr A*towards and partly engulfing Sgr A*. As a side result of our data, a possible link between the near side of the EMR and the CND's southwest lobe was found. Additionally, we found OH absorption against all four of the previously known compact H II regions A-D, located east of Sgr A East, indicating their close association with the +50 km s(-1) cloud.

Ämnesord

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Fysik -- Astronomi, astrofysik och kosmologi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Physical Sciences -- Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Galaxy: center

ISM: individual objects: Sagittarius A

ISM: molecules

ISM: clouds

Astronomy

astronomi

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