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H3+ Spectroscopy and the Ionization Rate of Molecular Hydrogen in the Central Few Parsecs of the Galaxy

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 نشر من قبل Miwa Goto
 تاريخ النشر 2013
  مجال البحث فيزياء
والبحث باللغة English
 تأليف M. Goto




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We report observations and analysis of infrared spectra of H3+ and CO lines in the Galactic center, within a few parsecs of the central black hole, Sgr A*. We find a cosmic ray ionization rate typically an order of magnitude higher than outside the Galactic center. Notwithstanding, the elevated cosmic ray ionization rate is 4 orders of magnitude too short to match the proton energy spectrum as inferred from the recent discovery of the TeV gamma-ray source in the vicinity of Sgr A*.

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