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Pablo García

Publications and source records attributed to Pablo García.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
arXiv2026

ACES VIII: A Survey of Compact, High-Velocity Features Observed in CS(2-1)

The extreme kinematics of the Milky Way's Central Molecular Zone (CMZ) are influenced by processes such as dynamical shearing, cloud collisions, and stellar feedback. These events are visible in molecular data as vertically spiked features in position-velocity (PV) diagrams referred to as high velocity dispersion compact clouds (HVCCs). Using ALMA CMZ Exploration Survey (ACES) CS (2-1) molecular data, we identify a total of 235 HVCC candidates, 163 of which are visually identified, and an additional 72 identified via automated dendrogram methods. For each HVCC we catalog and report the physical and kinematic properties, explore line ratios of the cold dense gas tracer \HNCO with C-shock tracers, classify the morphology of their PV diagrams, and view their position-position-velocity distribution. The sample includes structures which are compact (d<5 pc) and have large velocity extents (20 km/s $<\Delta \mathrm{V} <$ 140 km/s), with most structures showing thin, `spiked' PV morphologies. We highlight areas of high ratios between HNCO and C-shock tracers along the edge of known orbital streams, implying a buildup of bar lane gas accreting onto the CMZ. We also find a collection of HVCCs overlapping with the 50 km/s cloud and known circumnuclear disk features. This catalog will be used for future investigation of nuclear inflow and determining dominant mechanisms disrupting average CMZ gas flows.

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arXiv2026

ACES VII. Compact Continuum Source Catalog of the Central Molecular Zone

The Central Molecular Zone (CMZ) resides in the inner few hundred parsecs of our Galaxy, and despite being the largest reservoir of dense molecular gas in the Milky Way, it has a relatively low present-day star formation rate (SFR) of $\sim0.08~M_{\odot}~\text{yr}^{-1}$. Continuum and spectral line observations from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) CMZ Exploration Survey (ACES) provide the first full-coverage, high-resolution map of the inner 200 parsecs of the CMZ at 3 mm. In this paper we present the ACES catalog of compact continuum sources, the most complete catalog of potential sites of star formation in the CMZ to date. Using an automated dendrogram-based source extraction procedure in combination with a by-eye morphological classification scheme, we produce a `full' catalog of 1735 detections in total. Additionally, we use spectral index measurements to generate a `filtered' catalog of 567 sources with minimal contamination from non-thermal filaments and extended free-free emission. We find that 359 ($\sim63\%$) of the filtered catalog sources are located at column densities $< 10^{23}$ cm$^{-2}$, outside of the densest molecular cloud regions, 195 of which have not been identified in previous surveys. After cross-referencing with various catalogs generated from data at different wavelengths, we consider it likely that many of these newly discovered detections are produced by pre/protostellar sources or compact HII regions.

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arXiv2026

Electron temperature and emission measure of HII regions in the central molecular zone (CMZ) from H40 \alpha recombination line and continuum emissions by ALMA CMZ Exploration Survey - ACES -

Star formation activity in the Central Molecular Zone (CMZ) directly manifests itself as radio continuum free-free emission (Bremsstrahlung) and radio recombination line emission from HII regions surrounding newly formed massive stars. We derive the overall distribution of the HII regions and their fundamental properties: electron temperature ($\Te$) and emission measure ($EM$), and hence electron density in the form of two dimensional distribution maps over the CMZ by analyzing the ACES (ALMA CMZ Exploration Survey) \h40 (99.02 GHz) recombination line and 99.6 GHz continuum emission data with synthesized beam widths of $2''.45$ (0.097 pc at 8.2 kpc) and $2''.14$, respectively. We apply the 'TeEM' method ($\Te$--$EM$ mapping), which creates $\Te$ and $EM$ maps from input 2D maps of the continuum and integrated line intensity. The analysis covers the entire ACES field from $l\sim -0^\circ.6$ to $+0^\circ.8$ and from $b\sim -0^\circ.2$ to $+0^\circ.1$. The area analyzed is complete and includes previously known HII regions such as Sgr B2, Sgr B1, the Sickle, the Pistol, thermal filaments (Bridges), Sgr A HII regions, the Minispiral, and many other known HII regions. Sgr C is not included in the analysis due to the insufficient signal-to-noise ratio in the recombination line map. The mean electron temperature over the CMZ is determined to be $\Tcmz= 5872 \pm 78 ~{\rm (SE)} ~\pm 3682~{\rm (SD)}$ K (SE:standard error of the mean, SD: pixel-to-pixel standard deviation). Some HII regions, such as Sgr B2 Main and the Minispiral, exhibit large scatter and an internal $\Te$ gradient of several thousand K per parsec. The $EM$ distribution is more diverse, varying by orders of magnitude from $\sim 10^5$ to $\sim 3\times 10^8$ \emunit within the CMZ, as well as within individual HII regions.

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arXiv2026

SDSS-V Local Volume Mapper (LVM): The Integrated Light and Internal Rotation of Omega Centauri

The SDSS-V Local Volume Mapper (LVM) is a wide-field integral field spectroscopic survey of the Southern Milky Way plane, the Magellanic Clouds, and nearby Local Group galaxies. We use Early Science observations of the whole body of the nearest nuclear cluster, Omega Centauri, to extend the LVM beyond its primary interstellar-medium science case. The wide LVM field allows us to precisely map $\omega$ Cen's line-of-sight rotation out to $\sim 3r_{HL}$ or $15^\prime$, reaching a maximum value of $(8.4 \pm 0.8)$ km s$^{-1}$ at $r \approx 4.7^\prime$. Within the central region, comparisons with existing VLT MUSE oMEGACat data show explicitly that the unresolved-light signal is dominated by a small number of bright stars, with an effective sample size of only $\sim$12 per resolution element. Using Gaia DR3 as an external reference, we verify that the SDSS-V's LVM reduction pipeline recovers integrated stellar fluxes to 1-4 % across six magnitudes of surface brightness. Our resulting total spectrum of $\omega$ Cen is one of the highest S/N integrated spectrum for any globular or nuclear star cluster. We use it to test four widely-used SSP template libraries against resolved age-metallicity ground truth from oMEGACat. All templates recover an old, metal-poor population. But, even at S/N $\sim$1300, the inferred mean ages and mean [Fe/H] vary by $\sim$7 Gyr and $\sim$0.4 dex, respectively, across libraries and wavelength ranges, reflecting a systematic floor for integrated-light studies of old multi-population systems.

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arXiv2026

The Twentieth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: First All-Sky BOSS Spectra, eROSITA-SDSS-V Mapper Coordinated Observations, and a Preview of the Local Volume Mapper

This paper presents the twentieth data release (DR20) from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, the third data release of its fifth generation (SDSS-V). SDSS-V is a panoptic spectroscopy survey that is mapping the stars, gas, and galaxies through three scientific programs: the Milky Way Mapper (MWM), the Local Volume Mapper (LVM), and the Black Hole Mapper (BHM). DR20 presents the first optical (BOSS) SDSS-V spectra from southern hemisphere for the MWM and BHM surveys; new optical MWM and BHM data from the northern hemisphere are also available, for a total over 3 million spectra of 1.5 million stars and half a million galaxies and quasars, with galactic and extragalactic x-ray targets coordinate with eROSITA DR2. DR20 includes integral field spectroscopy maps from LVM of six targets and 169 tiles, spanning Galactic HII regions, planetary nebulae, and nearby galaxies. Additionally, eighteen value added catalogs are also released with DR20, based on SDSS-V MWM and BHM data, and we present a new LVM visualization tool including an RGB HiPS map as a value added product.

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arXiv2026

The ALMA-QUARKS Survey: Properties of Hot Molecular Fragments in the Massive Protocluster IRAS 17233-3606

To investigate the physical mechanisms of fragmentation within the hot molecular core of the massive protocluster IRAS 17233-3606 (G351.78-0.54), we carried out a detailed analysis of continuum and lines, using the ALMA Band 3 data from the ATOMS survey and Band 6 data from the QUARKS survey. The low-resolution 3 mm data reveal a massive hot core MM1 with a mass of ~81.3 Msun, and a prominent ultracompact (UC) HII region MM2, while the high-resolution data resolve MM1 into 11 hot molecular fragments (HMFs). These HMFs exhibit hot (Trot = 100-310 K) CH3CN and CH3OH emission and high column densities (NH2 > 10^23 cm^-2), indicating their potential to form massive stars. Based on outflows, masers, HII regions, and f[CH3CN/CH3O] abundance ratios, the evolutionary sequences of the 11 HMFs are categorized as phases I to IV. The mean minimum-spanning tree (MST) separation (~1.8 x 10^3 au) of the HMFs is nearly half of the thermal Jeans length (~3.3 x 10^3 au). Together with the Q parameter Q = 0.77 and virial parameter alpha_vir = 0.84 of MM1, these results suggest an evolutionary scenario in which fragmentation is initially driven by thermal instability, followed by global gravitational contraction and growth through active accretion. Meanwhile, feedback from the B2-type zero-age main-sequence (ZAMS) star and the UC HII region significantly influence the morphology and chemical properties of MM1 and MM2. This heterogeneity highlights the role of diverse physical processes taking place in high-mass protoclusters.

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arXiv2026

The ALMA-QUARKS Survey: Evidence of an Explosive Molecular Outflow in IRAS 15520--5234

We present a study of the massive protocluster IRAS 15520$-$5234, which displays evidence of an explosive molecular outflow that unleashed a kinetic energy of at least 10$^{48}$ erg. The protocluster contains 16 dense cores detected in the ALMA band 6 continuum emission maps, having masses in the range from 0.2 to 11.0 M$_{\odot}$. Our analysis of CO $(2-1)$ emission reveals 28 well collimated outflow fingers, the majority of which follow a Hubble-Lemaître velocity law. The outflow fingers show no preferred orientation in the plane of sky and emerge from a common center of origin. We estimate the total mass, momentum, and kinetic energy of the outflow fingers and find that the values are at least one order of magnitude higher than the typical bipolar outflows associated with massive protostars. The morphology and kinematics of the outflow fingers suggest that the outflow associated with IRAS 15520$-$5234 is explosive in nature. We calculate the dynamical age of the explosive event to be approximately 6550 years. Additionally, we estimate the frequency of such explosive outflows in the Galaxy, which is one event every 83 years. Finally, we speculate that the rearrangement of masses within the massive protocluster and the dynamical interaction among the massive cores may result in the formation of such an energetic event.

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arXiv2026

ALMA Central molecular zone Exploration Survey (ACES) V: CS(2-1), SO(2_3-1_2), CH3CHO(5_1,4-4_1,3), HC3N(11-10), and H40a lines data

We present data from the ALMA Central Molecular Zone Exploration Survey (ACES) Large Program, which provides broad spectral-line and 3 mm continuum coverage of the Central Molecular Zone (CMZ) at a spatial resolution of 0.1 pc. The survey delivers homogeneous, wide-field mosaics that enable direct comparisons of the physical and chemical conditions across diverse environments in the Galactic center. In this data release paper, we present the CS(2-1), SO(2_3-1_2), CH3CHO(5_1,4-4_1,3), HC3N(11-10), and H40a lines observed simultaneously within two broad spectral windows. These lines reveal pronounced spatial and chemical variations across the CMZ, tracing distinct components of molecular gas, shock-affected regions, and ionized structures. The high angular resolution and multi-line capability of the ACES dataset make it a powerful resource for future studies of gas dynamics, star formation activity, and the physical connection between the CMZ and Sgr A*.

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arXiv2026

ALMA Central Molecular Zone Exploration Survey (ACES) II: 3mm continuum images

The ALMA Central Molecular Zone Exploration Survey, ACES, has mapped $\gtrsim1000$ square arcminutes at 3 mm toward the center of our Galaxy. ACES provides the first large-scale, high-resolution ($\sim2.5$") view of the central $\sim200$ parsecs of the Milky Way. In this work, we describe the continuum data processing and present the continuum data products. In the combined mosaic of 45 individual ALMA mosaics, the typical RMS noise achieved is $\sim0.1$ mJy per $\sim2.5$" beam, though there is a tail of substantially higher noise toward regions with bright continuum structure, especially around Sgr A* and Sgr B2. In-band spectral indices are measurable for a small fraction of the brightest and most compact sources, enabling distinction between dust-dominated and free-free- or synchrotron-dominated sources. To recover emission on large angular scales, we present the GBT MUSTANG-2 Three millimeter Extended Nucleus Survey (TENS), a new 10"resolution survey of the CMZ, which we combine with the ACES image by feathering. To demonstrate the quality and reliability of the ACES data, we compare to previously-published ALMA data obtained with higher resolution and sensitivity, finding overall good agreement with past results, but some disagreement toward the brightest sources.

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arXiv2026

ALMA Central molecular zone Exploration Survey (ACES) VI: ALMA Large Program Reveals a Highly Filamentary Central Molecular Zone

The Central Molecular Zone (CMZ) of the Milky Way is the way station that primarily controls how much gas flows from the disk of the Galaxy towards the central nucleus. While this region is well documented to have extreme gas properties that clearly distinguish it from the rest of the Galaxy, the properties of the bulk molecular gas at high angular resolution are relatively unexplored. Band 3 data from the ALMA (Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array) large program ACES (ALMA CMZ Exploration Survey) reveal the highly filamentary nature of CMZ molecular gas at high resolution (3" or 0.1pc) across the entire CMZ. Visual inspection of these data suggests that there are at least two general classes of elongated structures, which we identify as: i) large-scale (10 pc) filamentary structures (LFs) and ii) a ubiquitous population of small-scale (about 1 pc) filamentary structures (SFs). We present detailed morphological and kinematic properties towards three structures in each category, as well as their association with magnetic fields and the correlation of HNCO 4(0,4)-3(0,3) with other molecular species. Our investigation reveals that these structures are largely coherent in position-position-velocity space. The alignment with the magnetic field structure is mixed, with some parallel, some perpendicular, and some intermediate alignments. We find that LFs likely trace pieces of contiguous CMZ orbital structures and are a manifestation of global CMZ dynamics. The second class, SFs, are pervasive and may be the result of complicated turbulence and shearing dynamics in the CMZ gas flows, as seen in numerical simulations.

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arXiv2026

ALMA Central molecular zone Exploration Survey (ACES) III: Molecular line data reduction and HNCO and HCO$^{+}$ data

The ALMA Central molecular zone Exploration Survey (ACES) large program has observed the inner ~ 200 pc of the Milky Way at 3 mm (Band 3) using ALMA's 12m, 7m, and Total Power arrays. With an angular resolution of ~ 2", ACES provides a contiguous, multi-scale view of the Central Molecular Zone (CMZ) via the dust continuum and a suite of molecular lines. We present an overview of the molecular line data processing for ACES and describe the first data release. We showcase the HNCO (4-3) and HCO$^{+}$ (1-0) data, which were targeted at high spectral resolution (0.2 km s$^{-1}$) to trace the kinematics of the molecular gas in the CMZ. The HNCO and HCO$^{+}$ maps are compared with previous single-dish CMZ surveys and discrete ALMA observations of CMZ clouds to demonstrate the quality of the data. We highlight the ubiquity of parsec-scale, linear absorption features traced by HCO$^{+}$. Their origin is unknown, and ACES provides the first opportunity to study these enigmatic features throughout the CMZ. We release the HNCO and HCO$^{+}$ cubes for all 45 ACES fields, along with the full cube mosaics which combine all fields into a contiguous mosaic of the CMZ. We additionally provide advanced products of these full mosaics, including integrated and peak intensity, noise, and position-velocity maps. These products provide substantial legacy value for the community, offering an unparalleled view of the physical and kinematic structure of the dense gas in the CMZ.

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arXiv2026

ALMA Central Molecular Zone Exploration Survey (ACES) I: Overview

The mass flows and energy cycles within the inner regions of galaxies exert a powerful influence on the evolution of the galaxy population. The centre of the Milky Way is the only galactic nucleus for which it is possible to resolve the physical mechanisms that drive these cycles, namely star formation and feedback, while also tracing global (>100 pc) processes which determine where and when star formation and feedback occur. We present an overview of ACES, the 'Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) CMZ Exploration Survey', a ~1.5" angular resolution, 0.2-3 km/s spectral resolution ALMA Band 3 (85-102 GHz), survey of the 'Central Molecular Zone' (CMZ) -- the inner-100 pc of the Galaxy (l = 359.4 deg to 0.8 deg). ACES spectral setup is tuned to observe optimal tracers of the physical, chemical, and kinematic conditions in over 70 spectral features (e.g. HCO+, HNCO, SiO, H40alpha, complex molecules) of the gas in the CMZ, to derive the properties of all potentially star-forming Galactic Centre gas, from global scales (100 pc) to dense ~0.05 pc structures that are expected to host individual star-forming cores, down to sub-sonic (<0.4 km/s) velocity resolution. In this overview paper, we provide the scientific justification for the ACES survey, explain the choice of observational setup, and describe the data legacy products. Finally, we show some of the initial ACES data which highlight the power of ACES' combination of high angular resolution, unprecedented spatial dynamic range, sensitivity, spectral resolution and spectral bandwidth as an illustration of how ACES aims to understand how global processes set the location, intensity, and timescales for star formation and feedback in the CMZ.

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arXiv2026

The ALMA-QUARKS Survey: Discovery of Dusty Fibrils inside Massive Star-forming Clumps

We report the discovery of more than 323 superfine dusty filamentary structures (fibrils) inside 121 massive star forming clumps that are located in widely different Galactic environments (Galactocentric distances of $\sim$0.5-12.7 kpc). These fibrils are identified from the 1.3~mm continuum emission in the ALMA-QUARKS survey, which has a linear resolution of $\sim900$ AU for a source at $\sim$3 kpc, using the \textit{FilFinder} software. Using \textit{RadFil} software, we find that the typical width of these fibrils is $\sim$0.01 pc, which is about ten times narrower than that of dusty filaments in nearby clouds identified by the \textit{Herschel} Space Observatory. The mass ($M$) versus length ($L$) relation for these fibrils follows $M\propto L^{2}$, similar to that of Galactic filaments identified in space (e.g., \textit{Herschel}) and ground-based single-dish (e.g., \textit{APEX}) surveys. However, these fibrils are significantly denser ($\mathrm{N_{H_2} = 10^{23}-10^{24}\ cm^{-2}}$) than the filaments found in previous \textit{Herschel} surveys ($\mathrm{N_{H_2} = 10^{20}-10^{23}\ cm^{-2}}$). This work contributes a large sample of superfine fibrils in massive clumps, following the identification of large 0.1-pc wide filaments and associated internal velocity coherent fibers in nearby molecular clouds, further emphasizing the crucial role played by filamentary structures in star formation at various physical scales.

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arXiv2026

Deep-learning-based prediction of Precipitable Water Vapor in the Chajnantor area

Astronomical observations at millimeter and submillimeter wavelengths heavily depend on the amount of Precipitable Water Vapor (PWV) in the atmosphere, directly affecting the sky transparency and degrading the quality of the signals received by radio telescopes. Predictions of PWV at different forecasting horizons is crucial to support telescope operations, engineering planning, and observational scheduling and efficiency of radio observatories installed in the Chajnantor area in northern Chile. We developed and validated a Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) deep learning-based model to predict PWV at forecasting horizons of 12, 24, 36, and 48 hours using historical data from two 183 GHz radiometers and a weather station in the Chajnantor area. We find the LSTM method is able to predict PWV in the 12 and 24 hours forecasting horizons with Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE) of 22% compared to 36% of the traditional Global Forecast System (GFS) method used by Atacama Pathfinder EXperiment (APEX) and the Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) in mm are reduced by 50%. We present a first application of deep learning techniques for preliminary predictions of PWV in the Chajnantor area. The prediction performance shows significant improvements to traditional methods in 12 and 24 hours time windows. We also propose upgrades to improve our method in short (< 1 hour) and long (> 36 hours) forecasting timescales for future work.

astro-ph.IM↗
arXiv2026

Unveiling the 3D structure of the central molecular zone from stellar kinematics and photometry: The 50 and 20 km/s clouds

The central molecular zone (CMZ), surrounding the Galactic centre, is the largest reservoir of dense molecular gas in the Galaxy. Despite its relative proximity, the 3D structure of the CMZ remains poorly constrained, primarily due to projection effects. We aim to constrain the line-of-sight location of two molecular clouds in the CMZ -- the 50 and 20 km/s clouds -- and to investigate their possible physical connection using stellar kinematics and photometry. This study serves as a pilot for future applications across the full CMZ. We estimated the line-of-sight position of the clouds by analysing stellar kinematics, stellar densities, and stellar populations towards the cloud regions and a control field. We find an absence of westward moving stars in the cloud regions, which indicates that they lie on the near side of the CMZ. This interpretation is supported by the stellar density distributions. The similar behaviour observed in the two clouds, as well as in the region between them (the ridge), suggests that they are located at comparable distances and are physically linked. We also identified an intermediate-age stellar population (2-7 Gyr) in both regions, consistent with that observed on the near side of the CMZ. We estimated the line-of-sight distances at which the clouds and the ridge become kinematically detectable (i.e. where the proper motion component parallel to the Galactic plane differs from that of the control field at the 3 sigma level) by converting their measured proper motions parallel to the Galactic plane using a theoretical model of the stellar distribution. We find that the 50 and 20 km/s clouds are located at $43\pm8$ pc and $56\pm11$ pc from Sgr A*, respectively, and that the ridge lies at $56\pm11$ pc; this supports the idea that the clouds are physically connected through the ridge.

astro-ph.GA↗
arXiv2025

Rotation and stability of the circumnuclear gas disk in the Galactic Center potential by the ALMA CMZ Exploration Survey (ACES)

We investigated the gravitational potential and mass distribution in the Galactic Center by examining the morphology and kinematics of the circumnuclear gaseous disk revealed by the molecular line data from the ALMA CMZ Exploration Survey (ACES). We obtain an estimate of the shape of the potential {within the central $\sim 20$ pc} to reproduce the observed properties of the circumnuclear gas disk (CND) by simulating the motion of test particles for various axial ratios and show that the potential is approximately spherical. We construct a rotation curve by applying the terminal velocity method to the position-velocity diagrams, and calculate the mass distribution in the Galactic Center. The distribution of mass density is found to be of cusp type, approximated by $ρ_{\rm mass} \sim 1.56\times 10^5(R/1 {\rm pc})^{-1.9}~M_{\odot} {\rm pc}^{-3}$, where $R$ is the distance from the nucleus. We discuss the tidal effect caused by the gravitational potential that produces the rotation curve and show that the gas disk is stable against self-gravitational contraction within a critical radius of $ R_{\rm T}\sim 14 ~(ρ_{\rm gas}/10^5 {\rm H_2~cm^{-3}})^{-1/2}~{\rm pc}$. This suggests suppression of star formation and a top-heavy IMF in the circmunuclear region.

astro-ph.GA↗
arXiv2025

ALMA-QUARKS: Few-Thousand-Year Hatching out of "Egg": The Supersonic Breakout of a Hypercompact H II Region from Its Parental Hot Core

The kinematic evolution of hypercompact H II (HC H II) regions around young high-mass stars remains poorly understood due to complex interactions with parental environs. We present ALMA QUARKS/ATOMS 1.3 mm/3 mm observations (the highest resolution $\sim0.01$ pc) of a deeply embedded HC H II region (diameter $\sim0.015$ pc, electron density $\sim2\times10^{5}$ cm$^{-3}$) exhibiting a striking $\gtrsim20$ km s$^{-1}$ global redshift seen in optically thin H30$α$/H40$α$ recombination lines relative to its parental hot molecular core within a hub-filament system. The 1.3 mm continuum data reveal a distinct 0.1-pc arc and a perpendicular 0.04-pc tail. We propose that this morphology arises from a dynamic champagne flow: the slow expansion of HC H II region into a pre-existing filament forms the arc and associated low-velocity (few km s$^{-1}$) SiO shocks. Meanwhile, in the opposite direction ionized gas escapes along a steep density gradient traced by the tail and high-velocity (20 km s$^{-1}$) SiO emission. We reject the bow shock scenario in which ionized gas co-moves with a runaway high-mass star because shocked gas in the arc aligns with the hub velocity, contradicting the bow shock prediction. Non-LTE radiative transfer modeling further rules out infall of ionized gas as the velocity shift origin. We conclude that this exceptional HC H II region is undergoing a few-thousand-year transition phase of "hatching out of the egg": the ionized gas of HC H II region has just broken out of its parental hot core and now is flowing outward supersonically. This work highlights how anisotropic density distributions induce supersonically anisotropic ionized flows that govern HC H II region evolution.

astro-ph.GA↗
arXiv2025

SDSS-V LVM: Resolving Physical Conditions in the Trifid Nebula

The chemical abundance of the interstellar medium sets the initial conditions for star formation and provides a probe of chemical galaxy evolution models. However, unresolved inhomogeneities in the electron temperature can lead to a systematic underestimation of the abundances. We aim to directly test this effect. We use the SDSS-V Local Volume Mapper to spatially map the physical conditions of the Trifid Nebula (M 20), a Galactic H II region ionized by a single mid-type O star, at 0.24 pc resolution. We exploit various emission lines (e.g., Hydrogen recombination lines and collisionally excited lines, including also faint auroral lines) and compute spatially resolved maps of [O II] and [S II] electron densities; [N II], [O II], [S II], [S III] electron temperatures; and the ionic oxygen abundances. We find internal variations of electron density that result from the ionization front, along with a negative radial gradient. However, we do not find strong gradients or structures in the electron temperature and the total oxygen abundance, making the Trifid Nebula a relatively homogeneous H II region at the observed spatial scale. We compare these spatially resolved properties with equivalent integrated measurements of the Trifid Nebula and find no significant variations between integrated and spatially resolved conditions. This isolated H II region, ionized by a single O-star, represents a test case of an ideal Strömgren sphere. The physical conditions in the Trifid Nebula behave as expected, with no significant differences between integrated and resolved measurements.

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