Temperature structures in Galactic center clouds

We observed on-the-fly maps of para-H_2_CO transitions at 218GHz and 291GHz with the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX) telescope towards seven Galactic center clouds. From the temperature-sensitive integrated intensity line ratios of H_2_CO(3_21_-2_20_)/H_2_CO(3_03_-2_02_) and H_2_CO(4_22_-3_21_)/H_2_CO(4_04_-3_03_) in combination with radiative transfer models, we produce gas temperature maps of our targets.

Our targets have a complex velocity structure that requires a careful disentanglement of the different components. We produce temperature maps for each of the velocity components and show that the temperatures of the components differ, revealing temperature gradients in the clouds.