1305.3915 (M. Goto et al.)

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

M. Goto, Nick Indriolo, T. R. Geballe, T. Usuda

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*.

View original: http://arxiv.org/abs/1305.3915