A 6.7 GHz methanol maser survey of the central molecular zone
  The Central Molecular Zone (CMZ) spans the inner ~450 pc (3 degrees) of our
Galaxy. This region is defined by its enhanced molecular emission and contains
5% of the entire Galaxy's molecular gas mass. However, the number of detected
star forming sites towards the CMZ may be low for the amount of molecular gas
that is present, and improved surveys of star formation indicators can help
clarify this. With the Karl G Jansky Very Large Array (VLA), we conducted a
blind survey of 6.7 GHz methanol masers spanning the inner 3deg x 40arcmin (450
pc x 100 pc) of the Galaxy. We detected 43 methanol masers towards 28
locations, 16 of which are new detections. The velocities of most of these
masers are consistent with being located within the CMZ. A majority of the
detected methanol masers are distributed towards positive Galactic longitudes,
similar to 2/3 of the molecular gas mass distributed at positive Galactic
longitudes. The 6.7 GHz methanol maser is an excellent indicator of high mass
(>8 solar mass) star formation, with new detections indicating sites of massive
star formation in the CMZ.
