Published online by Cambridge University Press: 23 September 2016
The 18-cm distribution of OH in the Galactic Center region near Sgr A has been mapped in all four of the 1612, 1665, 1667 and 1720 MHz OH absorption lines using the VLA with 4 arcsec angular resolution and 9 kms-1 velocity resolution. The OH gas at +50 and +20 kms-l is seen clearly in absorption against the shell structure of Sgr A East but not against the spiral structure of Sgr A West, possibly implying that this molecular gas lies between the two continuum components - behind Sgr A West and in front of Sgr A East. Inside the Circumnuclear Disk, there is a new neutral streamer which sweeps from the disk in towards Sgr A∗ as the observed radial velocity decreases from +78 to +16 kms-1. The streamer may have a negative-velocity counterpart on the opposite side of Sgr A∗.