An analysis of HCN observations of the Circumnuclear Disk at the galactic centre

Abstract

The Circumnuclear Disk (CND) is a torus of dust and molecular gas rotating about the galactic centre and extending from approximately 1.6pc to 7pc from the central massive black hole, SgrA*. Large Velocity Gradient modelling of the intensities of the HCN 1-0, 3-2 and 4-3 transitions is used to infer hydrogen density and HCN optical depth. From HCN observations we find the molecular hydrogen density ranges from 0.1 to 2 $\times$ 10$^{6}$ cm$^{-3}$, about an order of magnitude less than inferred previously. The 1-0 line is weakly inverted with line-centre optical depth approx $-$0.1, in stark contrast to earlier estimates of 4. The estimated mass of the ring is approximately 3 $-$ 4 $\times$ 10$^{5}$M$_{\odot}$ consistent with estimates based on thermal dust emission. The tidal shear in the disk implies that star formation is not expected to occur without some significant triggering event.