SWAG is a survey to cover the entire Central Molecular Zone in about 42 spectral lines, at 30" (~1pc) resolution.
Our main goals are to obtain:
- High resolution maps of the distribution of molecular gas across the entire CMZ on scales down to 1pc and up to 500pc. This included the 100pc ring and regions outside that may feed the gas toward the center. We will include star forming regions Sgr B1, B2, as well as Sgr C, and the area of the supermassive black hole Sgr A*.
- Maps of current gas temperature, gas formation temperature, and opacity. The ammonia molecule is ideal to construct such maps, and we will gain information up to hundreds of K.
- An unbiased water maser survey. Water has a maser transition at 22.2 GHz which is typically pumped close to star formation regions and AGB stars. We will obtain a full flux limited sample of water masers across the entire CMZ.
- Maps of shock and photon-dominated region tracers. We will be able to study where the molecular gas is influenced strongly by shocks and by UV radiation.
- Maps of radio recombination lines. They will reveal the location of the ionizing sources,
- Continuum, polarization, and spectral index maps. We will be able to distinguish between thermal and non-thermal emission and derive the magnetic field strength and direction.
- A molecular clump catalog. We estimate to obtain images of ~10,000 molecular clumps. We can then derive derive clump statistic, such as the mass function, in different environments of the CMZ