Related papers: Gas flows in galactic centre environments: cloud e…
The star formation rate (SFR) in the Central Molecular Zone (CMZ, i.e. the central 500 pc) of the Milky Way is lower by a factor of >10 than expected for the substantial amount of dense gas it contains, which challenges current star…
All stars are born in molecular clouds, and most in giant molecular clouds (GMCs), which thus set the star formation activity of galaxies. We first review their observed properties, including measures of mass surface density, Sigma, and…
Star formation is primarily controlled by the interplay between gravity, turbulence, and magnetic fields. However, the turbulence and magnetic fields in molecular clouds near the Galactic Center may differ substantially from spiral-arm…
Star formation in the inner few hundred pc of the Galactic bulge occurs in a flattened molecular layer called the central molecular zone (CMZ). Serabyn & Morris (1996) suggest that the star formation in the CMZ has been sustained for the…
Giant molecular clouds (GMCs) and their stellar offspring are the building blocks of galaxies. The physical characteristics of GMCs and their evolution are tightly connected to galaxy evolution. The macroscopic properties of the…
The Central Molecular Zone (CMZ) at the center of our Galaxy is the best template to study star formation processes under extreme conditions, similar to those in high-redshift galaxies. We observed on-the-fly maps of para-H$_{2}$CO…
Despite the simplicity of theoretical models of supersonically turbulent, isothermal media, their predictions successfully match the observed gas structure and star formation activity within low-pressure (P/k < 10^5 K cm^-3) molecular…
The Galactic Central Molecular Zone (CMZ) is a region containing massive and dense molecular clouds, with dynamics driven by a variety of energy sources including a massive black hole. It is thus the nearest template for understanding…
Stars and star clusters form by gravoturbulent fragmentation of interstellar gas clouds. The supersonic turbulence ubiquitously observed in Galactic molecular gas generates strong density fluctuations with gravity taking over in the densest…
We use hydrodynamical simulations to construct a new coherent picture for the gas flow in the Central Molecular Zone (CMZ), the region of our Galaxy within $R\leq 500\, \mathrm{pc}$. We relate connected structures observed in $(l,b,v)$ data…
I review observational studies of the large-scale star formation process in nearby galaxies. A wealth of new multi-wavelength data provide an unprecedented view on the interplay of the interstellar medium and (young) stellar populations on…
The Galactic center is the closest region in which we can study star formation under extreme physical conditions like those in high-redshift galaxies. We measure the temperature of the dense gas in the central molecular zone (CMZ) and…
We demonstrate that the observationally inferred rapid onset of star formation after parental molecular clouds have assembled can be achieved by flow-driven cloud formation of atomic gas, using our previous three-dimensional numerical…
The massive infrared dark cloud G0.253+0.016 projected 45pc from the Galactic centre contains ~10^5Msun of dense gas whilst being mostly devoid of observed star-formation tracers. To scrutinise the physical properties, dynamics and…
Velocity profiles of a line of H$_3^+$ at 3.7 $\mu$m produced in warm diffuse gas have been observed toward 18 stars in the Central Molecular Zone (CMZ) of the Galaxy. Their longitude-velocity diagram indicates that the gas is radially…
The interstellar medium in the Milky Way's Central Molecular Zone (CMZ) is known to be strongly magnetised, but its large-scale morphology and impact on the gas dynamics are not well understood. We explore the impact and properties of…
Galaxies evolve under the influence of gas flows between their interstellar medium and their surrounding gaseous halos known as the circumgalactic medium (CGM). The CGM is a major reservoir of galactic baryons and metals, and plays a key…
Stars form within dense cores composed of both gas and dust within molecular clouds. However, despite the crucial role that dust plays in the star formation process, its dynamics is frequently overlooked, with the common assumption being a…
We present the magnetic field in the dense material of the Central Molecular Zone (CMZ) of the Milky Way, traced in 850 $\mu$m polarized dust emission as part of the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) B-fields In STar-forming Region…
The Central Molecular Zone (CMZ), a star-forming region rich in molecular clouds located within hundreds of parsecs from the centre of our Galaxy, converts gas into stars less efficiently than anticipated. A key challenge in refining…