The giant molecular cloud complex SgrB2 is the most massive region with
ongoing star formation in the Galaxy. It is located at a projected distance
of about 100 pc along the plane to the Galactic center and at 8.5 kpc from
the Sun. The whole complex contains a total gas mass of 10^7 Msun, with the
main sites of active star formation corresponding to the hot molecular
cores SgrB2-N and SgrB2-M that are located at the center of the complex.
They contain more than 50 high-mass stars with spectral types ranging from
O5 to B0, and constitute one of the best laboratories for the search of new
chemical species in the Universe.
We have conducted a high-spatial resolution, spectral line survey of the
two hot cores SgrB2-M and SgrB2-N with ALMA. Despite their similar masses
(3–7x10^4 Msun) and luminosities (1-6x10^5 Lsun), the ALMA observations
reveal clear differences between the two objects. A study of the continuum
emission reveals a clearly fragmented structure in SgrB2-M, while SgrB2-N
remains monolithic and contains one of the, probably, most massive, not
fragmented condensations in the Galaxy. Furthermore, SgrB2-M and SgrB2-N
have a very different chemical composition, with M being rich in
sulphur-bearing molecules and N in organics. The observational results are
compared with 3D radiative transfer models.
Here we present the first results of the ALMA project as well as some new
tools to characterise the continuum emission in line-rich sources, as well
as the spectral line properties.