central-molecular-zone

Within 500 parsecs of the Milky Way's center lies a region unlike anything else in the galaxy — the Central Molecular Zone. It contains roughly 10% of the entire galaxy's molecular gas compressed into less than 0.1% of its volume. Star formation there should be rampant, but it is strangely quiet. Giant molecular clouds orbit at velocities that defy simple physics. A cloud called the Brick should have already collapsed into thousands of stars, yet it has not. Understanding the CMZ means understanding what keeps the center of our galaxy from exploding with new stars — and what occasionally makes it erupt instead.