ACES VII. Compact Continuum Source Catalog of the Central Molecular Zone
Abstract
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 ∼0.08 M⊙ 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 (∼63%) of the filtered catalog sources are located at column densities < 1023 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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BibTeX
@misc{wallace2026aces,
title = {{ACES VII. Compact Continuum Source Catalog of the Central Molecular Zone}},
author = {Jennifer Wallace and Cara Battersby and Nazar Budaiev and H Perry Hatchfield and Ashley T. Barnes and Taehwa Yoo and Miriam G. Santa-Maria and Antonio Daley and Q. Daniel Wang and Anika Schmiedeke and Kaitlyn E. Sheriff and Jairo Armijos-Abendaño and Daniel Walker and Gwenllian Williams and Dani R. Lipman and Farideh Mazoochi and Natalie O. Butterfield and Francisco Nogueras-Lara and Yoshiaki Sofue and Ralf S. Klessen and Simon C. O. Glover and Katharina Immer and Savannah R. Gramze and Katarzyna M. Dutkowska and Rojita Buddhacharya and Laura Colzi and Ashley Lieber and Alyssa Bulatek and Michael Wieber and Pablo García and Denise Riquelme-Vásquez and Emad Alkhuja and Yue Hu and Dennis Perlot and Howard A. Smith and Victor M. Rivilla and Wenyu Jiao and Fengwei Xu and Jonathan D. Henshaw and Adam Ginsburg and Elisabeth A. C. Mills and Qizhou Zhang and Steven N. Longmore and Nguyen M. Khang and Galaxy Salo and Jakub Poznanski and Dylan Pare and Maya Petkova and Izaskun Jiménez-Serra and Xing Lu and Sergio Martin and Alvaro Sanchez-Monge and Bijas Najimudeen and Christoph Federrath and Tabassum S. Tanvir and Pei-Ying Hsieh and John Bally and Paul Ho and Mattia C. Sormani and Robin G. Tress},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2609.00135},
eprint = {2609.00135},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.00135},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - ACES VII. Compact Continuum Source Catalog of the Central Molecular Zone
AU - Jennifer Wallace
AU - Cara Battersby
AU - Nazar Budaiev
AU - H Perry Hatchfield
AU - Ashley T. Barnes
AU - Taehwa Yoo
AU - Miriam G. Santa-Maria
AU - Antonio Daley
AU - Q. Daniel Wang
AU - Anika Schmiedeke
AU - Kaitlyn E. Sheriff
AU - Jairo Armijos-Abendaño
AU - Daniel Walker
AU - Gwenllian Williams
AU - Dani R. Lipman
AU - Farideh Mazoochi
AU - Natalie O. Butterfield
AU - Francisco Nogueras-Lara
AU - Yoshiaki Sofue
AU - Ralf S. Klessen
AU - Simon C. O. Glover
AU - Katharina Immer
AU - Savannah R. Gramze
AU - Katarzyna M. Dutkowska
AU - Rojita Buddhacharya
AU - Laura Colzi
AU - Ashley Lieber
AU - Alyssa Bulatek
AU - Michael Wieber
AU - Pablo García
AU - Denise Riquelme-Vásquez
AU - Emad Alkhuja
AU - Yue Hu
AU - Dennis Perlot
AU - Howard A. Smith
AU - Victor M. Rivilla
AU - Wenyu Jiao
AU - Fengwei Xu
AU - Jonathan D. Henshaw
AU - Adam Ginsburg
AU - Elisabeth A. C. Mills
AU - Qizhou Zhang
AU - Steven N. Longmore
AU - Nguyen M. Khang
AU - Galaxy Salo
AU - Jakub Poznanski
AU - Dylan Pare
AU - Maya Petkova
AU - Izaskun Jiménez-Serra
AU - Xing Lu
AU - Sergio Martin
AU - Alvaro Sanchez-Monge
AU - Bijas Najimudeen
AU - Christoph Federrath
AU - Tabassum S. Tanvir
AU - Pei-Ying Hsieh
AU - John Bally
AU - Paul Ho
AU - Mattia C. Sormani
AU - Robin G. Tress
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/01
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2609.00135
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.00135
AB - 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 ∼0.08 M_⊙ 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 (∼63%) 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.
ER -