In situ formation of the massive stars around SgrA*
Abstract
The formation of the massive young stars surrounding SgrA* is still an open
question. In this paper, we simulate the infall of an isothermal, turbulent
molecular cloud towards the Galactic Centre (GC). As it spirals towards the GC,
the molecular cloud forms a small and dense disc around SgrA*. Efficient star
formation (SF) is expected to take place in such a dense disc. We model SF by
means of sink particles. At ~6x10^5 yr, ~6000 solar masses of stars have
formed, and are confined within a thin disc with inner and outer radius of 0.06
and 0.5 pc, respectively. Thus, this preliminary study shows that the infall of
a molecular cloud is a viable scenario for the formation of massive stars
around SgrA*. Further studies with more realistic radiation physics and SF will
be required to better constrain this intriguing scenario.