We investigated the gravitational potential and mass distribution in the Galactic Center by examining the morphology and kinematics of the circumnuclear gaseous disk revealed by the molecular line data from the ALMA CMZ Exploration Survey. We obtain an estimate of the shape of the potential within the central similar to 20 pc to reproduce the observed properties of the circumnuclear gas disk by simulating the motion of test particles for various axial ratios and show that the potential is approximately spherical. We construct a rotation curve by applying the terminal velocity method to the position-velocity diagrams, and calculate the mass distribution in the Galactic Center. The distribution of mass density is found to be of cusp type, approximated by rho(dyn) similar to 1.56 & times; 10(5)(R/1 pc)( -1.9) M-circle dot pc(-3), where R is the distance from the nucleus. We discuss the tidal effect caused by the gravitational potential that produces the rotation curve and show that the gas disk is stable against self-gravitational contraction within a critical radius of RT similar to 14 (rho(gas)/10(5)H(2) cm(-3) ) (-1/2) pc. This suggests suppression of star formation and a top-heavy initial mass function in the circumnuclear region.

Context. The central molecular zone (CMZ), surrounding the Galactic centre, is the largest reservoir of dense molecular gas in the Galaxy. Despite its relative proximity, the 3D structure of the CMZ remains poorly constrained, primarily due to projection effects. Aims. We aim to constrain the line-of-sight location of two molecular clouds in the CMZ - the 50 and 20 km/s clouds - and to investigate their possible physical connection using stellar kinematics and photometry. This study serves as a pilot for future applications across the full CMZ. Methods. We estimated the line-of-sight position of the clouds by analysing stellar kinematics, stellar densities, and stellar populations towards the cloud regions and a control field. Results. We find an absence of westward moving stars in the cloud regions, which indicates that they lie on the near side of the CMZ. This interpretation is supported by the stellar density distributions. The similar behaviour observed in the two clouds, as well as in the region between them (the ridge), suggests that they are located at comparable distances and are physically linked. We also identified an intermediate-age stellar population (2-7 Gyr) in both regions, consistent with that observed on the near side of the CMZ. We estimated the line-of-sight distances at which the clouds and the ridge become kinematically detectable (i.e. where the proper motion component parallel to the Galactic plane differs from that of the control field at the 3σ level) by converting their measured proper motions parallel to the Galactic plane using a theoretical model of the stellar distribution. We find that the 50 and 20 km/s clouds are located at 43 ± 8 pc and 56 ± 11 pc from Sgr A*, respectively, and that the ridge lies at 56 ± 11 pc; this supports the idea that the clouds are physically connected through the ridge.

We present data from the ALMA Central Molecular Zone Exploration Survey (ACES) Large Program, which provides broad spectral-line and 3 mm continuum coverage of the Central Molecular Zone (CMZ) at a spatial resolution of 0.1 pc. The survey delivers homogeneous, wide-field mosaics that enable direct comparisons of the physical and chemical conditions across diverse environments in the Galactic center. In this data release paper, we present the CS(2-1), SO(2_3-1_2), CH3CHO(5_1,4-4_1,3), HC3N(11-10), and H40a lines observed simultaneously within two broad spectral windows. These lines reveal pronounced spatial and chemical variations across the CMZ, tracing distinct components of molecular gas, shock-affected regions, and ionized structures. The high angular resolution and multi-line capability of the ACES dataset make it a powerful resource for future studies of gas dynamics, star formation activity, and the physical connection between the CMZ and Sgr A*.

The Galactic center (GC) is an extreme region of the Milky Way that is host to a complex set of thermal and nonthermal structures. In particular, the GC contains high-density gas and dust that is collectively referred to as the Central Molecular Zone (CMZ). In this work, we study a subset of HNCO filaments identified in Band 3 Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) observations of the GC obtained by the ALMA CMZ Exploration Survey that are comparable to high-density filaments identified in the Galactic disk. We compare the orientation of the magnetic field derived from 214 mu m Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy and 850 mu m James Clerk Maxwell Telescope observations with the filament orientation to determine which mechanisms dominate the formation of these filaments. We observe a large range of magnetic orientations in our observed filaments indicating the complex environments the filaments are located in. We also compare the observational results to synthetic datasets created using an MHD model of the GC. Our analysis reveals that the dominant mechanisms local to the HNCO filaments vary throughout the GC with some filaments being dominated by supersonic turbulence and others by subsonic turbulence. The comparison to synthetic observations indicates that the observed filaments are in magnetically dominated environments that could be supporting these filaments against collapse. Our results on the CMZ filaments are also compared to results obtained on similar filaments located in the Galactic disk, and we find that the filaments studied here are possible CMZ analogs to the dense filamentary "bones" observed previously in the Galactic disk.

The Central Molecular Zone (CMZ) of the Milky Way is the way station that primarily controls how much gas flows from the disk of the Galaxy towards the central nucleus. While this region is well documented to have extreme gas properties that clearly distinguish it from the rest of the Galaxy, the properties of the bulk molecular gas at high angular resolution are relatively unexplored. Band 3 data from the ALMA (Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array) large program ACES (ALMA CMZ Exploration Survey) reveal the highly filamentary nature of CMZ molecular gas at high resolution (3" or 0.1pc) across the entire CMZ. Visual inspection of these data suggests that there are at least two general classes of elongated structures, which we identify as: i) large-scale (10 pc) filamentary structures (LFs) and ii) a ubiquitous population of small-scale (about 1 pc) filamentary structures (SFs). We present detailed morphological and kinematic properties towards three structures in each category, as well as their association with magnetic fields and the correlation of HNCO 4(0,4)-3(0,3) with other molecular species. Our investigation reveals that these structures are largely coherent in position-position-velocity space. The alignment with the magnetic field structure is mixed, with some parallel, some perpendicular, and some intermediate alignments. We find that LFs likely trace pieces of contiguous CMZ orbital structures and are a manifestation of global CMZ dynamics. The second class, SFs, are pervasive and may be the result of complicated turbulence and shearing dynamics in the CMZ gas flows, as seen in numerical simulations.

The ALMA Central molecular zone Exploration Survey (ACES) large program has observed the inner 200 pc of the Milky Way at 3 mm (Band 3) using ALMA's 12m, 7m, and Total Power arrays. With an angular resolution of 2", ACES provides a contiguous, multi-scale view of the Central Molecular Zone (CMZ) via the dust continuum and a suite of molecular lines. We present an overview of the molecular line data processing for ACES and describe the first data release. We showcase the HNCO (4-3) and HCO^+ (1-0) data, which were targeted at high spectral resolution (0.2 km s^-1) to trace the kinematics of the molecular gas in the CMZ. The HNCO and HCO^+ maps are compared with previous single-dish CMZ surveys and discrete ALMA observations of CMZ clouds to demonstrate the quality of the data. We highlight the ubiquity of parsec-scale, linear absorption features traced by HCO^+. Their origin is unknown, and ACES provides the first opportunity to study these enigmatic features throughout the CMZ. We release the HNCO and HCO^+ cubes for all 45 ACES fields, along with the full cube mosaics which combine all fields into a contiguous mosaic of the CMZ. We additionally provide advanced products of these full mosaics, including integrated and peak intensity, noise, and position-velocity maps. These products provide substantial legacy value for the community, offering an unparalleled view of the physical and kinematic structure of the dense gas in the CMZ.

The circumnuclear region of the Galactic center offers a unique laboratory to study energy balance and structure formation around Sgr A ^⋆ . This work investigates thermal and nonthermal processes within a 7 pc distance from Sgr A ^⋆ . Using MeerKAT 1.3 GHz radio continuum data and Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array H40 α radio recombination line emission from the ACES survey, we separate free–free and synchrotron components at ∼0.2 pc resolution. With a thermal fraction of ≃13%, the 1.3 GHz emission shows tight correlations with the Herschel PACS IR data. The correlation between the equipartition magnetic field and molecular gas traced by JCMT ^12 CO ( J = 3 → 2) observations reveals a balance between the magnetic field, cosmic rays, and molecular gas pressures south of the circumnuclear disk on ∼0.7 pc scales. Unlike the magnetic field and ionized gas, the molecular gas density declines in the cavity ( R ≤ 2 pc) toward the center, likely due to feedback from Sgr A ^⋆ . We find that nonthermal pressure from turbulent gas nearly balances magnetic and cosmic-ray pressures and exceeds the thermal pressure by 2 orders of magnitude. The medium surrounding Sgr A ^⋆ is filled by a low- β (thermal-to-magnetic energy ratio), supersonic plasma, with an Alfvén Mach number ≃ 4 (assuming equipartition). Analysis of the mass-to-magnetic flux ratio suggests that the circumnuclear region is mostly subcritical and, therefore, the magnetic field can help stabilize gas clouds against gravitational collapse.

The ALMA Central Molecular Zone Exploration Survey, ACES, has mapped ≳1000 square arcminutes at 3 mm toward the center of our Galaxy. ACES provides the first large-scale, high-resolution (∼2.5") view of the central ∼200 parsecs of the Milky Way. In this work, we describe the continuum data processing and present the continuum data products. In the combined mosaic of 45 individual ALMA mosaics, the typical RMS noise achieved is ∼0.1 mJy per ∼2.5" beam, though there is a tail of substantially higher noise toward regions with bright continuum structure, especially around Sgr A* and Sgr B2. In-band spectral indices are measurable for a small fraction of the brightest and most compact sources, enabling distinction between dust-dominated and free-free- or synchrotron-dominated sources. To recover emission on large angular scales, we present the GBT MUSTANG-2 Three millimeter Extended Nucleus Survey (TENS), a new 10"resolution survey of the CMZ, which we combine with the ACES image by feathering. To demonstrate the quality and reliability of the ACES data, we compare to previously-published ALMA data obtained with higher resolution and sensitivity, finding overall good agreement with past results, but some disagreement toward the brightest sources.

We release the intermediate-width spectral window data from the ALMA Central Molecular Zone Exploration Survey (ACES) Large Program, which covers SiO(2-1), SO(2_2-1_1), H13CO+(1-0), H13CN(1-0), HN13C(1-0), and HC15N (1-0), among other molecular line transitions, with an angular resolution of 2 arcsec and a velocity resolution of 1.7 km s-1 . The full cubes of the two spectral windows as well as the key data products will be available to the community. We also present the integrated brightness, peak brightness, centroid velocity, and Galactic longitude-velocity maps of the six lines. We briefly discuss morphological correlations between the continuum and the molecular line emission, and brightness ratios between pairs of isotopologue or isotopomer lines. We highlight features and trends in the data that will be followed up in upcoming ACES science papers.

Analyzing longitude–velocity diagrams (LVDs) in the CS (J = 2–1) and H$^{13}$CN (J = 1–0) molecular lines from the internal release data of the ALMA Central Molecular Zone (CMZ) Exploration Survey and in the $^{13}$CO (J = 1–0) line from the Nobeyama Galactic Center (GC) survey, we identify six GC arms as prominent straight LV ridges. In addition to the currently known Arms I to IV, we identify a new inner arm, Arm V, and further highlight the circumnuclear disk (CND) as Arm VI. Integrated intensity maps of the arms on the sky suggest that most of the arms compose ring-like structures inclined from the Galactic plane. We determine the radii (curvatures) of the arms using the velocity-gradient ($dv/dl$) method, assuming that the arms are rotating in circular orbits at a constant velocity of $\sim$150 km s$^{-1}$. We show that Arms I and II compose the main ring structure of the CMZ with radii $\sim$100–120 pc; Arm III is a dense arm 42 pc from the GC; Arm IV is a clear and narrow arm 20 pc from the GC; and Arm V is a faint, long arm of 8.2 pc radius. We show that the CND comprises the sixth arm, Arm VI, of radius $\sim$2.3 pc associated with bifurcated spiral fins. We also discuss the association of the 20 and 50 km s$^{-1}$ clouds with these arms. The radii of the arms fall on an empirical relation $R\sim 630 (2/5)^N$ for $N=1$ (Arm I) to 6 (VI), suggesting discrete rings or a logarithmic spiral with pitch angle ${\sim }22^{\circ }$. The vertical full extent of the arm increases with radius and is represented by $z\sim 0.7 (R/1 {\rm \ pc} )^{0.7}$ pc. The tilt angle of the arms from the Galactic plane, or the warping, increases rapidly toward the GC.

Peat fires are a major hazard to human and animal health and can negatively impact livelihoods. Once peat fires start to burn, they are difficult to extinguish and can continue to burn for months, destroying biomass and contributing to carbon emissions globally. In areas with limited accessibility and periods of thick haze and fog, these fires are difficult to detect, localize, and tackle. To address this problem, thermal infrared cameras mounted on drones can provide a potential solution since they allow large areas to be surveyed relatively quickly and can detect thermal radiation from fires above and below the peat surface. This paper describes a deep learning pipeline that detects and segments peat fires in thermal images. Controlled peat fires were constructed under varying environmental conditions and thermal images were taken to form a dataset for our pipeline. A semi-automated approach was adopted to label images using Otsu’s adaptive thresholding technique, which significantly reduces the required effort often needed to tag objects in images. The proposed method uses a pre-trained ResNet-50 model as a backbone (encoder) for feature extraction and is augmented with a set of up-sampling layers and skip connections, like the UNet architecture. The experimental results show that the model can achieve an IOU score of 87.6% on an unseen test set of thermal images containing peat fires. In comparison, a MobileNetV2 model trained under the same experimental conditions achieved an IOU score of 57.9%. In addition, the model is robust to false positives, which is indicated by a precision equal to 94.2%. To demonstrate its practical utility, the model was also tested on real peat wildfires, and the results are promising, as indicated by a high IOU score of 90%. Finally, a geolocation algorithm is presented to identify the GNSS location of these fires once they are detected in an image to aid fire-fighting responses. The proposed scheme was built using a web-based platform that performs offline detection and allows peat fires to be geolocated.

The central molecular zone (CMZ) of our Galaxy exhibits widespread emission from SiO and various complex organic molecules (COMs), yet the exact origin of such emission is uncertain. Here we report the discovery of a unique class of long (>0.5 pc) and narrow (<0.03 pc) filaments in the emission of SiO 5–4 and eight additional molecular lines, including several COMs, in our ALMA 1.3 mm spectral line observations toward two massive molecular clouds in the CMZ, which we name as slim filaments. However, these filaments are not detected in the 1.3 mm continuum at the 5 σ level. Their line-of-sight velocities are coherent and inconsistent with being outflows. The column densities and relative abundances of the detected molecules are statistically similar to those in protostellar outflows but different from those in dense cores within the same clouds. Turbulent pressure in these filaments dominates over self gravity and leads to hydrostatic inequilibrium, indicating that they are a different class of objects than the dense gas filaments in dynamical equilibrium ubiquitously found in nearby molecular clouds. We argue that these newly detected slim filaments are associated with parsec-scale shocks, likely arising from dynamic interactions between shock waves and molecular clouds. The dissipation of the slim filaments may replenish SiO and COMs in the interstellar medium and lead to their widespread emission in the CMZ.

Effective monitoring of wildlife is critical for assessing biodiversity and ecosystem health as declines in key species often signal significant environmental changes. Birds, particularly ground-nesting species, serve as important ecological indicators due to their sensitivity to environmental pressures. Camera traps have become indispensable tools for monitoring nesting bird populations, enabling data collection across diverse habitats. However, the manual processing and analysis of such data are resource-intensive, often delaying the delivery of actionable conservation insights. This study presents an AI-driven approach for real-time species detection, focusing on the curlew (Numenius arquata), a ground-nesting bird experiencing significant population declines. A custom-trained YOLOv10 model was developed to detect and classify curlews and their chicks using 3/4G-enabled cameras linked to the Conservation AI platform. The system processes camera trap data in real time, significantly enhancing monitoring efficiency. Across 11 nesting sites in Wales, the model achieved high performance, with a sensitivity of 90.56%, specificity of 100%, and F1-score of 95.05% for curlew detections and a sensitivity of 92.35%, specificity of 100%, and F1-score of 96.03% for curlew chick detections. These results demonstrate the capability of AI-driven monitoring systems to deliver accurate, timely data for biodiversity assessments, facilitating early conservation interventions and advancing the use of technology in ecological research.

The recent Far-Infrared Polarimetric Large-Area Central Molecular Zone Exploration (FIREPLACE) survey with SOFIA has mapped plane-of-sky magnetic field orientations within the Central Molecular Zone (CMZ) of the Milky Way. Applying the Histogram of Relative Orientations analysis to the FIREPLACE data, we find that the relative orientation between magnetic fields and column density structures is random in low-density regions ( 2x1022 less than or similar to NH2 less than or similar to 1023cm-2 ) but becomes preferentially parallel in high-density regions (greater than or similar to 1023 cm-2). This trend is in contrast with that of the nearby molecular clouds, where the relative orientation transitions from parallel to perpendicular with increasing column densities. However, the relative orientation varies between individual CMZ clouds. Comparisons with magnetohydrodynamic simulations specific to the CMZ conditions suggest that the observed parallel alignment is intrinsic, rather than artifacts caused by the projection effect. The origin of this parallel configuration may arise from the fact that most dense structures in the CMZ are not self-gravitating, as they are in supervirial states, except for the ministarburst region Sgr B2. These findings are consistent with the low star formation efficiency observed in the CMZ compared to that in the Galactic disk.

Context. The Milky Way's central molecular zone (CMZ) has been measured to form stars ten times less efficiently than in the Galactic disk, based on emission from high-mass stars. However, the CMZ's low-mass (<= 2 M circle dot) protostellar population, which accounts for most of the initial stellar mass budget and star formation rate (SFR), is poorly constrained observationally due to limited sensitivity and resolution. Aims. We aim to perform a cloud-wide census of the protostellar population in three massive CMZ clouds. Methods. We present the Dual-band Unified Exploration of three CMZ Clouds (DUET) survey, targeting the 20 km s-1 cloud, Sgr C, and the dust ridge cloud "e" using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) at 1.3 and 3 mm. The mosaicked observations achieve a comparable resolution of 0.'' 2-0.'' 3 (similar to 2000 au) and a sky coverage of 8.3-10.4 arcmin2, respectively. Results. We report 563 continuum sources at 1.3 mm and 330 at 3 mm, respectively, and a dual-band catalog with 450 continuum sources. These sources are marginally resolved at a resolution of 2000 au. We find a universal deviation (>70% of the source sample) from commonly used dust modified blackbody (MBB) models, characterized by either low spectral indices or low brightness temperatures. Conclusions. Three possible explanations are discussed for the deviation. (1) Optically thick class 0/I young stellar objects (YSOs) with a very small beam filling factor can lead to lower brightness temperatures than what MBB models predict. (2) Large dust grains with millimeter or centimeter in size have more significant self-scattering, and frequency-dependent albedo could therefore cause lower spectral indices. (3) Free-free emission over 30 mu Jy can severely contaminate dust emission and cause low spectral indices for milliJansky sources, although the number of massive protostars (embedded UCHII regions) needed is infeasibly high for the normal stellar initial mass function. A reliable measurement of the SFR at low protostellar masses will require future work to distinguish between these possible explanations.

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 3D geometry of this gas is crucial, as it determines the locations of star formation and subsequent feedback. We present a catalog of clouds in the CMZ using Herschel data. Using archival data from the APEX and MOPRA CMZ surveys, we measure averaged kinematic properties of the clouds at 1 and 3 mm. We use archival ATCA data of the H _2 CO (1 _1,0 –1 _1,1 ) 4.8 GHz line to search for absorption towards the clouds, and 4.85 GHz Green Bank Telescope (GBT) C -band data to measure the radio continuum emission. We measure the absorption against the continuum to provide new constraints for the line-of-sight positions of the clouds relative to the Galactic Center, and find a highly asymmetric distribution, with most clouds residing in front of the Galactic Center. The results are compared with different orbital models, and we introduce a revised toy model of a vertically oscillating closed elliptical orbit. We find that most models describe the position–position–velocity structure of the gas reasonably well, but find significant inconsistencies in all cases regarding the near versus far placement of individual clouds. Our results highlight that the CMZ is likely more complex than can be captured by these simple geometric models, along with the need for new data to provide further constraints on the true 3D structure of the CMZ.

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° (∣ l ∣ < 20°) of the Milky Way with a particular focus on the CMZ. We report a total dense gas ( N (H 2 ) > 10 23 cm −2 ) CMZ mass of ∼ 2 − 1 + 2 × 1 0 7 M ⊙ and confirm that there is a highly asymmetric distribution of dense gas, with about 70%–75% at positive longitudes. We create and publicly release complete fore/background-subtracted column density and dust temperature maps in the inner 40° (∣ l ∣ < 20°) of the Galaxy. We find that the CMZ clearly stands out as a distinct structure, with an average mass per longitude that is at least 3× higher than the rest of the inner Galaxy contiguously from 1 . ° 8 > ℓ > −1 . ° 3. This CMZ extent is larger than previously assumed, but is consistent with constraints from velocity information. The inner Galaxy’s column density peaks towards the SgrB2 complex with a value of about 2 × 10 24 cm −2 , and typical CMZ molecular clouds are about N (H 2 ) ∼ 10 23 cm −2 . Typical CMZ dust temperatures range from ∼12–35 K with relatively little variation. We identify a ridge of warm dust in the inner CMZ that potentially traces the base of the northern Galactic outflow seen with MEERKAT.

Astrophysics forms a cornerstone of human curiosity and has revolutionised our understanding of the Universe. However, conventional academic structures often hinder collaboration, transparency, and discovery. We present COOL Research DAO, a next-generation framework for cosmic origins astrophysics research that uses decentralised autonomous organisation (DAO) principles to make astrophysics research globally accessible, economically fair, and intellectually open. COOL Research DAO is designed to address four key systemic problems and their manifestations in traditional academic research: general inaccessibility, hierarchical organisation, unfair economic structures, and inefficient knowledge transfer. We describe how these inefficiencies can be addressed using blockchain-based tools and token systems. By fostering bottom-up governance, open-access knowledge networks, and transparent rewards, COOL Research DAO reshapes economic, organisational, and educational paradigms in astrophysics research. Our approach leverages the data-rich and inherently international nature of astrophysics, ensuring a scalable, collaborative platform that welcomes contributions ranging from computational analyses to public outreach. In doing so, we highlight a path toward realising our vision of a truly open research ecosystem, driven by community ownership, intellectual freedom, and shared fascination with our cosmic origins.

We present so far the highest resolution (∼0.04") ALMA 1.3 mm continuum observations of three massive star-forming clumps in the Central Molecular Zone, namely 20 km s^-1 C1, 20 km ^-1 C4, and Sgr C C4, which reveal prevalent compact millimeter emission. We extract the compact emission with astrodendro and identify a total of 199 fragments with a typical size of ∼370 AU, which represent the first sample of candidates of protostellar envelopes and disks and kernels of prestellar cores in these clumps that are likely forming star clusters. Compared with the protoclusters in the Galactic disk, the three protoclusters display a higher level of hierarchical clustering, likely a result of the stronger turbulence in the CMZ clumps. Compared with the mini-starbursts in the CMZ, Sgr B2 M and N, the three protoclusters also show stronger subclustering in conjunction with a lack of massive fragments. The efficiency of high-mass star formation of the three protoclusters is on average one order of magnitude lower than that of Sgr B2 M and N, despite a similar overall efficiency of converting gas into stars. The lower efficiency of high-mass star formation in the three protoclusters is likely attributed to hierarchical cluster formation.

We present the magnetic field in the dense material of the Central Molecular Zone (CMZ) of the Milky Way, traced in 850 μ m polarized dust emission as part of the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope B -fields in STar-forming Region Observations survey. We observe a highly ordered magnetic field across the CMZ between Sgr B2 and Sgr C that is strongly preferentially aligned with the orbital gas flows within the clouds of the CMZ. We find that the observed relative orientations are nonrandom at a >99% confidence level and are consistent with models in which the magnetic field vectors are aligned within 30° to the gas flows in 3D. The deviations from aligned magnetic fields are most prominent at positive Galactic longitudes, where the CMZ clouds are more massive, denser, and more actively forming stars. Our observed strongly preferentially parallel magnetic field morphology leads us to hypothesize that in the absence of star formation, the magnetic field in the CMZ is entrained in the orbital gas flows around Sgr A*, while gravitational collapse and feedback in star-forming regions can locally reorder the field. This magnetic field behavior is similar to that observed in the CMZ of the nuclear starburst galaxy NGC 253. This suggests that despite its current low star formation rate, the CMZ of the Milky Way is analogous to those of more distant, actively star-forming, galaxies.