The Population of the Galactic Center Filaments: Position Angle Distribution Reveals a Degree-scale Collimated Outflow from Sgr A* along the Galactic Plane

dc.contributor.authorYusef-Zadeh, F.
dc.contributor.authorArendt, Richard
dc.contributor.authorWardle, M.
dc.contributor.authorHeywood, I.
dc.date.accessioned2023-06-20T19:14:42Z
dc.date.available2023-06-20T19:14:42Z
dc.date.issued2023-06-02
dc.description.abstractWe have examined the distribution of the position angle (PA) of the Galactic center filaments with lengths L > 66" and <66" as well as their length distribution as a function of PA. We find bimodal PA distributions of the filaments, and long and short populations of radio filaments. Our PA study shows the evidence for a distinct population of short filaments with PA close to the Galactic plane. Mainly thermal, short-radio filaments (<66") have PAs concentrated close to the Galactic plane within 60° < PA < 120°. Remarkably, the short filament PAs are radial with respect to the Galactic center at l < 0° and extend in the direction toward Sgr A* . On a smaller scale, the prominent Sgr E H II complex G358.7-0.0 provides a vivid example of the nearly radial distribution of short filaments. The bimodal PA distribution suggests a different origin for two distinct filament populations. We argue that the alignment of the short filament population results from the ram pressure of a degree-scale outflow from Sgr A* that exceeds the internal filament pressure, and aligns them along the Galactic plane. The ram pressure is estimated to be 2 × 10⁶ cm⁻³ K at a distance of 300 pc, requiring biconical mass outflow rate 10⁻⁴ M⊙ yr⁻¹ with an opening angle of ∼40°. This outflow aligns not only the magnetized filaments along the Galactic plane but also accelerates thermal material associated with embedded or partially embedded clouds. This places an estimate of ∼6 Myr as the age of the outflow.en_US
dc.description.sponsorshipWork by R.G.A. was supported by NASA under award number 80GSFC21M0002. The MeerKAT telescope is operated by the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory, which is a facility of the National Research Foundation, an agency of the Department of Science and Innovation.en_US
dc.description.urihttps://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2041-8213/acd54ben_US
dc.format.extent14 pagesen_US
dc.genrejournal articlesen_US
dc.identifierdoi:10.13016/m2df6q-3w9j
dc.identifier.citationYusef-Zadeh, F., et al. "The Population of the Galactic Center Filaments: Position Angle Distribution Reveals a Degree-scale Collimated Outflow from Sgr A* along the Galactic Plane." The Astrophysical Journal Letters 949, L31 (02 June, 2023). https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/acd54b.en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/acd54b
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11603/28234
dc.language.isoen_USen_US
dc.publisherAASen_US
dc.relation.isAvailableAtThe University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC)
dc.relation.ispartofUMBC Center for Space Sciences and Technology
dc.relation.ispartofUMBC Faculty Collection
dc.rightsThis item is likely protected under Title 17 of the U.S. Copyright Law. Unless on a Creative Commons license, for uses protected by Copyright Law, contact the copyright holder or the author.en_US
dc.rightsAttribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)*
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/*
dc.titleThe Population of the Galactic Center Filaments: Position Angle Distribution Reveals a Degree-scale Collimated Outflow from Sgr A* along the Galactic Planeen_US
dc.typeTexten_US
dcterms.creatorhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-8403-8548en_US

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