- Mills, EAC;
- Ginsburg, A;
- Kruijssen, JMD;
- Sjouwerman, L;
- Lang, CC;
- Mao, SA;
- Walsh, A;
- Su, M;
- Longmore, SN;
- Zhao, J-H;
- Meier, D;
- Morris, MR
At a distance of 8 kpc, the center of our Galaxy is the nearest galactic
nucleus, and has been the subject of numerous key projects undertaken by great
observatories such as Chandra, Spitzer, and Herschel. However, there are still
no surveys of molecular gas properties in the Galactic center with less than
30" (1 pc) resolution. There is also no sensitive polarization survey of this
region, despite numerous nonthermal magnetic features apparently unique to the
central 300 parsecs. In this paper, we outline the potential the VLASS has to
fill this gap. We assess multiple considerations in observing the Galactic
center, and recommend a C-band survey with 10 micro-Jy continuum RMS and
sensitive to molecular gas with densities greater than 10^4 cm^{-3}, covering
17 square degrees in both DnC and CnB configurations ( resolution ~5"),
totaling 750 hours of observing time. Ultimately, we wish to note that the
upgraded VLA is not just optimized for fast continuum surveys, but has a
powerful correlator capable of simultaneously observing continuum emission and
dozens of molecular and recombination lines. This is an enormous strength that
should be fully exploited and highlighted by the VLASS, and which is ideally
suited for surveying the center of our Galaxy.