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To study the demographics of interstellar ices in the Central Molecular Zone (CMZ) of the Milky Way, we obtain near-infrared spectra of 109 red point sources using NASA IRTF/SpeX at Maunakea. We select the sample from near- and mid-infrared photometry, including 12 objects in the previous paper of this series, to ensure that these sources trace a large amount of absorption through clouds in each line of sight. We find that most of the sample (100 objects) show CO band-head absorption at 2.3 ÎĽ m, tagging them as red (super-) giants. Despite the photospheric signature, however, a fraction of the sample with L -band spectra (9/82 = 0.11) exhibit large H2O ice column densities (N > 2 Ă— 1018 cmâˆ'2), and six of them also reveal CH3OH ice absorption. As one of such objects is identified as a young stellar object (YSO) in our previous work, these ice-rich sight lines are likely associated with background stars in projection to an extended envelope of a YSO or a dense cloud core. The low frequency of such objects in the early stage of stellar evolution implies a low star-formation rate (≲0.02 M ⊙ yrâˆ'1), reinforcing the previous claim on the suppressed star-formation activity in the CMZ. Our data also indicate that the strong “shoulder” CO2 ice absorption at 15.4 ÎĽ m observed in YSO candidates in the previous paper arises from CH3OH-rich ice grains having a large CO2 concentration [ N (CO2)/ N (CH3OH) ≈ 1/3]. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ices regulate much of the chemistry during star formation and account for up to 80% of the available oxygen and carbon. In this paper, we use the Spitzer c2d Legacy ice survey, complimented with data sets on ices in cloud cores and high-mass protostars, to determine standard ice abundances and to present a coherent picture of the evolution of ices during low- and high-mass star formation. The median ice composition H2O:CO:CO2:CH3OH:NH3:CH4:XCN is 100:29:29:3:5:5:0.3 and 100:13:13:4:5:2:0.6 toward low- and high-mass protostars, respectively, and 100:31:38:4:-:-:- in cloud cores. In the low-mass sample, the ice abundances with respect to H2O of CH4, NH3, and the component of CO2 mixed with H2O typically vary by <25%, indicative of co-formation with H2O. In contrast, some CO and CO2 ice components, XCN, and CH3OH vary by factors 2-10 between the lower and upper quartile. The XCN band correlates with CO, consistent with its OCN- identification. The origin(s) of the different levels of ice abundance variations are constrained by comparing ice inventories toward different types of protostars and background stars, through ice mapping, analysis of cloud-to-cloud variations, and ice (anti-)correlations. Based on the analysis, the first ice formation phase is driven by hydrogenation of atoms, which results in an H2O-dominated ice. At later prestellar times, CO freezes out and variations in CO freezeout levels and the subsequent CO-based chemistry can explain most of the observed ice abundance variations. The last important ice evolution stage is thermal and UV processing around protostars, resulting in CO desorption, ice segregation, and the formation of complex organic molecules. The distribution of cometary ice abundances is consistent with the idea that most cometary ices have a protostellar origin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present results from our spectroscopic study, using the Infrared Spectrograph (IRS) on board the Spitzer Space Telescope, designed to identify massive young stellar objects (YSOs) in the Galactic center (GC). Our sample of 107 YSO candidates was selected based on Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) colors from the high spatial resolution, high sensitivity Spitzer/IRAC images in the Central Molecular Zone, which spans the central ~300 pc region of the Milky Way. We obtained IRS spectra over 5-35 µm using both high- and low-resolution IRS modules. We spectroscopically identify massive YSOs by the presence of a 15.4 µm shoulder on the absorption profile of 15 µm CO2 ice, suggestive of CO2 ice mixed with CH3OH ice on grains. This 15.4 µm shoulder is clearly observed in 16 sources and possibly observed in an additional 19 sources. We show that nine massive YSOs also reveal molecular gas-phase absorption from CO2, C2H2, and/or HCN, which traces warm and dense gas in YSOs. Our results provide the first spectroscopic census of the massive YSO population in the GC. We fit YSO models to the observed spectral energy distributions and find YSO masses of 8-23 M⊙, which generally agree with the masses derived from observed radio continuum emission. We find that about 50% of photometrically identified YSOs are confirmed with our spectroscopic study. This implies a preliminary star formation rate of ~0.07 M⊙ yr-1 at the GC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]