An image of the Central Molecular Zone in three colors from the Herschel space telescope with the words Professor Cara Battersby on top in script.

Contact Information

Email: cara.battersby@uconn.edu

Office: Gant South S-113F

Virtual Office: https://uconn-cmr.webex.com/meet/cab16109

Phone: (860 ) 486-3988

Address: Department of Physics
196A Auditorium Rd, Unit 3046
Storrs, CT 06269-3046

Dr. Cara Battersby is an associate professor of physics at the University of Connecticut, specializing in observational astrophysics. Prof. Battersby studies how stars are born in our Galaxy’s Central Molecular Zone (CMZ) by combining large observational surveys and numerical simulations.

Prof. Battersby has authored over 70 publications and given over 50 invited research presentations. Read more about her research, team, and accolades

In 2017, Prof. Battersby founded the Milky Way Laboratory, a research group at the University of Connecticut that specializes in using our home Galaxy as a laboratory for understanding star formation throughout the cosmos.

An image of Dr. Cara Battersby

RSS Recent Publications

  • 3-D CMZ I: Central Molecular Zone Overview October 22, 2024
    The Central Molecular Zone (CMZ) is the largest reservoir of dense molecular gas in the Galaxy and is heavily obscured in the optical and near-IR. We present an overview of the far-IR dust continuum, where the molecular clouds are revealed, provided by Herschel in the inner 40\deg($|l| 10^{23}$ cm$^{-2}$) CMZ mass of M=$2\substack{+2 \\ -1} […]
    Cara Battersby
  • 3-D CMZ II: Hierarchical Structure Analysis of the Central Molecular Zone October 22, 2024
    The Central Molecular Zone (CMZ) is the way station at the heart of our Milky Way Galaxy, connecting gas flowing in from Galactic scales with the central nucleus. Key open questions remain about its 3-D structure, star formation properties, and role in regulating this gas inflow. In this work, we identify a hierarchy of discrete […]
    Cara Battersby
  • 3-D CMZ IV: Distinguishing Near vs. Far Distances in the Galactic Center Using Spitzer and Herschel October 22, 2024
    A comprehensive 3-D model of the central 300 pc of the Milky Way, the Central Molecular Zone (CMZ) is of fundamental importance in understanding energy cycles in galactic nuclei, since the 3-D structure influences the location and intensity of star formation, feedback, and black hole accretion. Current observational constraints are insufficient to distinguish between existing […]
    Dani Lipman
  • 3-D CMZ III: Constraining the 3-D structure of the Central Molecular Zone via molecular line emission and absorption October 22, 2024
    The Milky Way's Central Molecular Zone (CMZ) is the largest concentration of dense molecular gas in the Galaxy, the structure of which is shaped by the complex interplay between Galactic-scale dynamics and extreme physical conditions. Understanding the 3-D geometry of this gas is crucial as it determines the locations of star formation and subsequent feedback. […]
    Daniel L. Walker
  • Disruption of a massive molecular cloud by a supernova in the Galactic Centre: Initial results from the ACES project September 18, 2024
    The Milky Way's Central Molecular Zone (CMZ) differs dramatically from our local solar neighbourhood, both in the extreme interstellar medium conditions it exhibits (e.g. high gas, stellar, and feedback density) and in the strong dynamics at play (e.g. due to shear and gas influx along the bar). Consequently, it is likely that there are large-scale […]
    M. Nonhebel
  • Dynamical Accretion Flows -- ALMAGAL: Flows along filamentary structures in high-mass star-forming clusters August 15, 2024
    We use data from the ALMA Evolutionary Study of High Mass Protocluster Formation in the Galaxy (ALMAGAL) survey to study 100 ALMAGAL regions at $\sim$ 1 arsecond resolution located between $\sim$ 2 and 6 kpc distance. Using ALMAGAL $\sim$ 1.3mm line and continuum data we estimate flow rates onto individual cores. We focus specifically on […]
    M. R. A. Wells
  • SOFIA/FORCAST Galactic Center Source Catalog July 10, 2024
    The central regions of the Milky Way constitute a unique laboratory for a wide swath of astrophysical studies, consequently the inner $\sim$400 pc has been the target of numerous large surveys at all accessible wavelengths. In this paper we present a catalog of sources at 25 and 37 $\mu$m located within all of the regions […]
    Angela S. Cotera
  • A broad linewidth, compact, millimeter-bright molecular emission line source near the Galactic Center April 11, 2024
    A compact source, G0.02467-0.0727, was detected in ALMA \threemm observations in continuum and very broad line emission. The continuum emission has a spectral index $\alpha\approx3.3$, suggesting that the emission is from dust. The line emission is detected in several transitions of CS, SO, and SO$_2$ and exhibits a line width FWHM $\approx160$ \kms. The line […]
    Adam Ginsburg

News

  • The MW Lab at an Art Exhibit at the University of Hartford
    The Milky Way Laboratory was invited to collaborate with Genevieve de Leon, the 2022-23 Koopman Distinguished Chair in the Painting Department at the University of Hartford, for an exhibition focused on the intersection between the Maya calendrical cycles and scientific studies of the cosmos. From the Milky Way Laboratory, H Perry Hatchfield, Jennifer Wallace, Dani […]
  • SgrE paper published!
    Graduate student Jennifer Wallace’s paper on molecular filaments observed towards the Sagittarius E star forming region has been published in ApJ! Congratulations, Jen! 🥳🤩 The Sgr E region is located near the dynamic intersection between the Galaxy’s Central Molecular Zone (CMZ) and the ‘far dust lane’, a stream of inflowing gas that helps transport material from […]
  • Large collaborative ACES grant funded!
    Our collaborative NSF proposal (led by Prof. Betsy Mills at KU and co-PIed with Adam Ginsburg at UF, Qizhou Zhang at SAO, and John Bally at Colorado) to fund research studying gas flows in our Galaxy’s Center using the ACES survey (more below!) has been awarded! 🥳🥰 With the ALMA CMZ Exploration Survey, an approved […]

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