| 1. |
- Sandqvist, Aage, et al.
(författare)
-
Odin observations of ammonia in the SgrA+50 km s(-1) cloud and circumnuclear disk
- 2017
-
Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 599
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Context. The Odin satellite is now into its sixteenth year of operation, much surpassing its design life of two years. One of the sources which Odin has observed in great detail is the Sgr A complex in the centre of the Milky Way.Aims. To study the presence of NH3 in the Galactic centre and spiral arms.Methods. Recently, Odin has made complementary observations of the 572 GHz NH3 line towards the SgrA + 50 km s(-1) cloud and circumnuclear disk (CND).Results. Significant NH3 emission has been observed in both the + 50 km s(-1) cloud and the CND. Clear NH3 absorption has also been detected in many of the spiral arm features along the line of sight from the Sun to the core of our Galaxy.Conclusions. The very large velocity width (80 km s 1) of the NH3 emission associated with the shock region in the southwestern part of the CND may suggest a formation / desorption scenario similar to that of gas-phase H2O in shocks / outflows.
|
|
| 2. |
- Biver, Nicolas, et al.
(författare)
-
Ethyl alcohol and sugar in comet C/2014 Q2 (Lovejoy)
- 2015
-
Ingår i: Science Advances. - : American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). - 2375-2548. ; 1:9
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The presence of numerous complex organic molecules (COMs; defined as those containing six or more atoms) around protostars shows that star formation is accompanied by an increase of molecular complexity. These COMs may be part of the material from which planetesimals and, ultimately, planets formed. Comets represent some of the oldest and most primitive material in the solar system, including ices, and are thus our best window into the volatile composition of the solar protoplanetary disk. Molecules identified to be present in cometary ices include water, simple hydrocarbons, oxygen, sulfur, and nitrogen-bearing species, as well as a few COMs, such as ethylene glycol and glycine. We report the detection of 21 molecules in comet C/2014 Q2 (Lovejoy), including the first identification of ethyl alcohol (ethanol, C2H5OH) and the simplest monosaccharide sugar glycolaldehyde (CH2OHCHO) in a comet. The abundances of ethanol and glycolaldehyde, respectively 5 and 0.8% relative to methanol (0.12 and 0.02% relative to water), are somewhat higher than the values measured in solar-type protostars. Overall, the high abundance of COMs in cometary ices supports the formation through grain-surface reactions in the solar system protoplanetary disk.
|
|
| 3. |
- Biver, N., et al.
(författare)
-
Isotopic ratios of H, C, N, O, and S in comets C/2012 F6 (Lemmon) and C/2014 Q2 (Lovejoy)
- 2016
-
Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 589, s. Art. no. A78-
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The apparition of bright comets C/2012 F6 (Lemmon) and C/2014 Q2 (Lovejoy) in March-April 2013 and January 2015, combined with the improved observational capabilities of submillimeter facilities, offered an opportunity to carry out sensitive compositional and isotopic studies of the volatiles in their coma. We observed comet Lovejoy with the IRAM 30 m telescope between 13 and 26 January 2015, and with the Odin submillimeter space observatory on 29 January-3 February 2015. We detected 22 molecules and several isotopologues. The (H2O)-O-16 and (H2O)-O-18 production rates measured with Odin follow a periodic pattern with a period of 0.94 days and an amplitude of similar to 25%. The inferred isotope ratios in comet Lovejoy are O-16/O-18 = 499 +/- 24 and D/H = 1.4 +/- 0.4 x 10(-4) in water, S-32/S-34 = 24.7 +/- 3.5 in CS, all compatible with terrestrial values. The ratio C-12/C-13 = 109 +/- 14 in HCN is marginally higher than terrestrial and N-14/N-15 = 145 +/- 12 in HCN is half the Earth ratio. Several upper limits for D/H or C-12/C-13 in other molecules are reported. From our observation of HDO in comet C/2014 Q2 (Lovejoy), we report the first D/H ratio in an Oort Cloud comet that is not larger than the terrestrial value. On the other hand, the observation of the same HDO line in the other Oort-cloud comet, C/2012 F6 (Lemmon), suggests a D/H value four times higher. Given the previous measurements of D/H in cometary water, this illustrates that a diversity in the D/H ratio and in the chemical composition, is present even within the same dynamical group of comets, suggesting that current dynamical groups contain comets formed at very different places or times in the early solar system.
|
|
| 4. |
- Karlsson, Roland, 1948-
(författare)
-
Studies of molecular clouds at the Galactic centre
- 2016
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Interstellar molecular clouds play an essential role in the Universe. Such clouds are invoked for the production and destruction of stars, galaxies and gas and also for energy transport in galaxies. The Galaxy, or the Milky Way, is a large spiral galaxy, with a central bar structure, that harbours a few hundred billion stars and large amounts of gas and dust. At the centre of the Galaxy, a 4 million solar mass supermassive black hole resides, surrounded by a dense core of millions of stars, as well as molecular and dust clouds. The Galactic centre (GC) is hidden by gas and dust, such that only astronomical observations of radio-, infrared-, X-rays and gamma-rays are available for a gathering of information at the centre. In this work, I have studied neutral molecular clouds in absorption at the innermost 50 light years from the centre with the Karl Jansky Very Large Array Observatory in New Mexico in the USA, and with data from observations with the Swedish-ESO Submillimetre Telescope in Chile, and also from the orbital observatory Odin. I have detected a new stream-like feature of gas that seems to link a previously known ring of gas clouds (the CND) and the GC. Moreover, the hypothesis of feeding the CND from an outside cloud is supported by this work. Contemporary discussions in the literature that the central bar structure would act as a pump of material inwards from the spiral arms towards the GC via molecular clouds are also suggested by the data. A number of maser sources have been observed and some of those are shown to reside at shock fronts or anticipated regions of collisions between molecular clouds or at star forming regions. Unusually high water abundance was detected at the south-west part of the CND, indicative of shocks and strong turbulence. Moreover, I have produced high-resolution spectral line maps of hydroxyl (OH) absorption intensity in the four main transition lines of OH at 1612, 1720, 1665 and 1667 MHz, as well as apparent opacity and position-velocity maps of the GC region.
|
|
| 5. |
- Karlsson, Roland, 1948-, et al.
(författare)
-
The OH-streamer in Sagittarius A revisited : Analysis of hydroxyl absorption within 10 pc from the Galactic centre
- 2015
-
Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 582
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Aims. We study the structure and kinematics of the OH-streamer and the +80 km s(-1) cloud and their interactions with the circumnu-clear disk (CND) and with other molecular clouds in the vicinity of the Galactic centre (GC), and we map OH absorption at about 6 '' resolution at R <= 10 pc from the GC, with about 9 km s(-1) of velocity resolution. Methods. The VLA was used to map OH line absorption at the 1665 and 1667 MHz lambda doublet main lines of the (2)Pi(3/2) state towards the Sagittarius A complex. Results. Strong OH absorption was found in the OH-streamer, the southern streamer (SS), the +20, +50, and +80 km s(-1) molecular clouds, the molecular belt, the CND, the expanding molecular ring (EMR), and the high negative velocity gas (HNVG). The OH-streamer was found to comprise three parts, head, mid, and tail, and to interact with the SS/+20, +80 km s(-1) clouds and the CND. Optical depths and column densities divided by excitation temperatures have been calculated for the OH-streamer and the +80 km s(-1) cloud. Conclusions. The OH-streamer, the SS, the +20 and +80 km s(-1) clouds, and the CND are intimately related in position and velocity space. The OH-streamer was found to be a clumpy object stretching in projection from the inner radius of the CND at about 1.8 pc from Sgr A*towards and partly engulfing Sgr A*. As a side result of our data, a possible link between the near side of the EMR and the CND's southwest lobe was found. Additionally, we found OH absorption against all four of the previously known compact H II regions A-D, located east of Sgr A East, indicating their close association with the +50 km s(-1) cloud.
|
|
| 6. |
- Karlsson, Roland, 1948-, et al.
(författare)
-
VizieR Online Data Catalog : OH-streamer in SgrA at 1665 and 1667MHz (Karlsson+, 2015)
- 2015
-
Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The VLA was used to map OH line absorption at the 1665 and 1667MHz lambda doublet main lines of the 2{Pi}3/2 state towards the Sagittarius A complex. Strong OH absorption was found in the OH-streamer, the southern streamer (SS), the +20, +50, and +80km/s molecular clouds, the molecular belt, the CND, the expanding molecular ring (EMR), and the high negative velocity gas (HNVG).Data cubes of VLA observations of the Sgr A complex at 1667- and 1665MHz OH-absorption at 7"x5" angular and 8.8km/s velocity resolution in 63 spectral channels centered at -38km/s (LSR). OH-absorption is defined as "continuum flux minus line flux". The continuum is taken as the average of 1665 and 1667 MHz maps of line free channels. Observations with the VLA in BnA and DnC arrays have been concatenated with AIPS, and data were calibrated and CLEANed with NRAO AIPS standard procedures.(2 data files).
|
|
| 7. |
- Sandqvist, Aage, et al.
(författare)
-
Herschel HIFI observations of the Sgr A+50 km s(-1) Cloud Deep searches for O-2 in emission and foreground absorption
- 2015
-
Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 584
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Context. The Herschel Oxygen Project (HOP) is an open time key program, awarded 140 h of observing time to search for molecular oxygen (O-2) in a number of interstellar sources. To date O-2 has definitely been detected in only two sources, namely rho Oph A and Orion, reflecting the extremely low abundance of O-2 in the interstellar medium. Aims. One of the sources in the HOP program is the + 50 km s(-1) Cloud in the Sgr A Complex in the centre of the Milky Way. Its environment is unique in the Galaxy and this property is investigated to see if it is conducive to the presence of O-2. Methods. The Herschel Heterodyne Instrument for the Far Infrared (HIFI) is used to search for the 487 and 774 GHz emission lines of O-2. Results. No O-2 emission is detected towards the Sgr A + 50 km s(-1) Cloud, but a number of strong emission lines of methanol (CH3OH) and absorption lines of chloronium (H2Cl+) are observed. Conclusions. A 3 sigma upper limit for the fractional abundance ratio of [O-2]/[H-2] in the Sgr A + 50 km s(-1) Cloud is found to be X(O-2)
|
|
