SF-05-0022

Thermal Properties of the Hot Core Population in Sagittarius B2 Deep South

Desmond Jeff, Adam Ginsburg, Alyssa Bulatek, Nazar Budaiev, Alvaro Sanchez-Monge, Melisse Bonfand, Cara Battersby, Fanyi Meng, Peter Schilke

Hot molecular cores are thought to represent a key phase of high-mass protostellar evolution and the evolution of the ISM, as the antecedents to ultra-compact HII regions and formation sites of complex organic molecules. However, the temporal and physical evolution of hot cores is still not well understood. The evolution of hot cores is further unexplored in the Milky Way's Central Molecular Zone (CMZ) where there are few examples of ongoing star formation. We report the discovery of 9 new hot molecular cores in the Deep South region of Sagittarius B2. We discuss our measurement of the cores' resolved temperature and column density structure using LTE modeling of methanol (CH3OH) lines. We find that the Deep South hot cores are structurally similar to Galactic Disk hot cores, but are generally warmer and more massive. This suggests a different mode of massive star formation is operating in the Galactic Center when compared to the Disk.