1. |
- Taquet, V, et al.
(author)
-
Seeds of Life in Space (SOLIS) VI. Chemical evolution of sulfuretted species along the outflows driven by the low-mass protostellar binary NGC1333-IRAS4A
- 2020
-
In: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 637
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Context. Low-mass protostars drive powerful molecular outflows that can be observed with millimetre and submillimetre telescopes. Various sulfuretted species are known to be bright in shocks and could be used to infer the physical and chemical conditions throughout the observed outflows. Aims. The evolution of sulfur chemistry is studied along the outflows driven by the NGC1333-IRAS4A protobinary system located in the Perseus cloud to constrain the physical and chemical processes at work in shocks. Methods. We observed various transitions from OCS, CS, SO, and SO2 towards NGC1333-IRAS4A in the 1.3, 2, and 3mm bands using the IRAM NOrthern Extended Millimeter Array and we interpreted the observations through the use of the Paris-Durham shock model. Results. The targeted species clearly show different spatial emission along the two outflows driven by IRAS4A. OCS is brighter on small and large scales along the south outflow driven by IRAS4A1, whereas SO2 is detected rather along the outflow driven by IRAS4A2 that is extended along the north east-south west direction. SO is detected at extremely high radial velocity up to +25 km s 1 relative to the source velocity, clearly allowing us to distinguish the two outflows on small scales. Column density ratio maps estimated from a rotational diagram analysis allowed us to confirm a clear gradient of the OCS/SO2 column density ratio between the IRAS4A1 and IRAS4A2 outflows. Analysis assuming non Local Thermodynamic Equilibrium of four SO2 transitions towards several SiO emission peaks suggests that the observed gas should be associated with densities higher than 105 cm 3 and relatively warm (T > 100 K) temperatures in most cases. Conclusions. The observed chemical differentiation between the two outflows of the IRAS4A system could be explained by a different chemical history. The outflow driven by IRAS4A1 is likely younger and more enriched in species initially formed in interstellar ices, such as OCS, and recently sputtered into the shock gas. In contrast, the longer and likely older outflow triggered by IRAS4A2 is more enriched in species that have a gas phase origin, such as SO2.
|
|
2. |
- Bøgelund, Eva G., et al.
(author)
-
Molecular complexity on disc scales uncovered by ALMA: Chemical composition of the high-mass protostar AFGL 4176
- 2019
-
In: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 628
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Context. The chemical composition of high-mass protostars reflects the physical evolution associated with different stages of star formation. In addition, the spatial distribution and velocity structure of different molecular species provide valuable information on the physical structure of these embedded objects. Despite an increasing number of interferometric studies, there is still a high demand for high angular resolution data to study chemical compositions and velocity structures for these objects. Aims. The molecular inventory of the forming high-mass star AFGL 4176, located at a distance of ∼3.7 kpc, is studied in detail at a high angular resolution of ∼0.35′′, equivalent to ∼1285 au at the distance of AFGL 4176. This high resolution makes it possible to separate the emission associated with the inner hot envelope and disc around the forming star from that of its cool outer envelope. The composition of AFGL 4176 is compared with other high- and low-mass sources, and placed in the broader context of star formation. Methods. Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) the chemical inventory of AFGL 4176 has been characterised. The high sensitivity of ALMA made it possible to identify weak and optically thin lines and allowed for many isotopologues to be detected, providing a more complete and accurate inventory of the source. For the detected species, excitation temperatures in the range 120-320 K were determined and column densities were derived assuming local thermodynamic equilibrium and using optically thin lines. The spatial distribution of a number of species was studied. Results. A total of 23 different molecular species and their isotopologues are detected in the spectrum towards AFGL 4176. The most abundant species is methanol (CH3OH) with a column density of 5.5 × 1018 cm-2 in a beam of ∼0.3″, derived from its 13C-isotopologue. The remaining species are present at levels between 0.003 and 15% with respect to methanol. Hints that N-bearing species peak slightly closer to the location of the peak continuum emission than the O-bearing species are seen. A single species, propyne (CH3C2H), displays a double-peaked distribution. Conclusions. AFGL 4176 comprises a rich chemical inventory including many complex species present on disc scales. On average, the derived column density ratios, with respect to methanol, of O-bearing species are higher than those derived for N-bearing species by a factor of three. This may indicate that AFGL 4176 is a relatively young source since nitrogen chemistry generally takes longer to evolve in the gas phase. Taking methanol as a reference, the composition of AFGL 4176 more closely resembles that of the low-mass protostar IRAS 16293-2422B than that of high-mass, star-forming regions located near the Galactic centre. This similarity hints that the chemical composition of complex species is already set in the cold cloud stage and implies that AFGL 4176 is a young source whose chemical composition has not yet been strongly processed by the central protostar.
|
|
3. |
- Jorgensen, J. K., et al.
(author)
-
The ALMA-PILS survey: isotopic composition of oxygen-containing complex organic molecules toward IRAS 16293-2422B
- 2018
-
In: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 620
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Context. One of the important questions of astrochemistry is how complex organic molecules, including potential prebiotic species, are formed in the envelopes around embedded protostars. The abundances of minor isotopologues of a molecule, in particular the D- and C-13-bearing variants, are sensitive to the densities, temperatures and timescales characteristic of the environment in which they form, and can therefore provide important constraints on the formation routes and conditions of individual species. Aims. The aim of this paper is to systematically survey the deuteration and the C-13 content of a variety of oxygen-bearing complex organic molecules on solar system scales toward the "B component" of the protostellar binary IRAS16293-2422. Methods. We have used the data from an unbiased molecular line survey of the protostellar binary IRAS16293-2422 between 329 and 363 GHz from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). The data probe scales of 60 AU (diameter) where most of the organic molecules are expected to have sublimated off dust grains and be present in the gas phase. The deuterated and C-13 isotopic species of ketene, acetaldehyde and formic acid, as well as deuterated ethanol, are detected unambiguously for the first time in the interstellar medium. These species are analysed together with the C-13 isotopic species of ethanol, dimethyl ether and methyl formate along with mono-deuterated methanol, dimethyl ether and methyl formate. Results. The complex organic molecules can be divided into two groups with one group, the simpler species, showing a D/H ratio of approximate to 2% and the other, the more complex species, D/H ratios of 4-8%. This division may reflect the formation time of each species in the ices before or during warm-up/infall of material through the protostellar envelope. No significant differences are seen in the deuteration of different functional groups for individual species, possibly a result of the short timescale for infall through the innermost warm regions where exchange reactions between different species may be taking place. The species show differences in excitation temperatures between 125 and 300 K. This likely reflects the binding energies of the individual species, in good agreement with what has previously been found for high-mass sources. For dimethyl ether, the C-12/C-13 ratio is found to be lower by up to a factor of 2 compared to typical ISM values similar to what has previously been inferred for glycolaldehyde. Tentative identifications suggest that the same may apply for C-13 isotopologues of methyl formate and ethanol. If confirmed, this may be a clue to their formation at the late prestellar or early protostellar phases with an enhancement of the available C-13 relative to C-12 related to small differences in binding energies for CO isotopologues or the impact of FUV irradiation by the central protostar. Conclusions. The results point to the importance of ice surface chemistry for the formation of these complex organic molecules at different stages in the evolution of embedded protostars and demonstrate the use of accurate isotope measurements for understanding the history of individual species.
|
|
4. |
- Manigand, S., et al.
(author)
-
The ALMA-PILS survey: First detection of the unsaturated 3-carbon molecules Propenal (C2H3CHO) and Propylene (C3H6) towards IRAS 16293-2422 B
- 2021
-
In: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 645
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Context. Complex organic molecules with three carbon atoms are found in the earliest stages of star formation. In particular, propenal (C2H3CHO) is a species of interest due to its implication in the formation of more complex species and even biotic molecules. Aims. This study aims to search for the presence of C2H3CHO and other three-carbon species such as propylene (C3H6) in the hot corino region of the low-mass protostellar binary IRAS 16293-2422 to understand their formation pathways. Methods. We use ALMA observations in Band 6 and 7 from various surveys to search for the presence of C3H6 and C2H3CHO towards the protostar IRAS 16293-2422 B (IRAS 16293B). The identification of the species and the estimates of the column densities and excitation temperatures are carried out by modeling the observed spectrum under the assumption of local thermodynamical equilibrium. Results. We report the detection of both C3H6 and C2H3CHO towards IRAS 16293B, however, no unblended lines were found towards the other component of the binary system, IRAS 16293A. We derive column density upper limits for C3H8, HCCCHO, n-C3H7OH, i-C3H7OH, C3O, and cis-HC(O)CHO towards IRAS 16293B. We then use a three-phase chemical model to simulate the formation of these species in a typical prestellar environment followed by its hydrodynamical collapse until the birth of the central protostar. Different formation paths, such as successive hydrogenation and radical-radical additions on grain surfaces, are tested and compared to the observational results in a number of different simulations, to assess which are the dominant formation mechanisms in the most embedded region of the protostar. Conclusions. The simulations reproduce the abundances within one order of magnitude from those observed towards IRAS 16293B, with the best agreement found for a rate of 10-12 cm3 s-1 for the gas-phase reaction C3 + O → C2 + CO. Successive hydrogenations of C3, HC(O)CHO, and CH3OCHO on grain surfaces are a major and crucial formation route of complex organics molecules, whereas both successive hydrogenation pathways and radical-radical addition reactions contribute to the formation of C2H5CHO.
|
|
5. |
- Persson, Magnus V., 1983, et al.
(author)
-
The ALMA-PILS Survey: Formaldehyde deuteration in warm gas on small scales toward IRAS 16293-2422 B
- 2018
-
In: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 610
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Context. The enhanced degrees of deuterium fractionation observed in envelopes around protostars demonstrate the importance of chemistry at low temperatures, relevant in pre- and protostellar cores. Formaldehyde is an important species in the formation of methanol and more complex molecules. Aims. Here, we aim to present the first study of formaldehyde deuteration on small scales around the prototypical low-mass protostar IRAS 16293-2422 using high spatial and spectral resolution Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) observations. We determine the excitation temperature, abundances and fractionation level of several formaldehyde isotopologues, including its deuterated forms. Methods. Excitation temperature and column densities of formaldehyde in the gas close to one of the components of the binary were constrained through modeling of optically thin lines assuming local thermodynamical equilibrium. The abundance ratios were compared to results from previous single dish observations, astrochemical models and local ISM values. Results. Numerous isotopologues of formaldehyde are detected, among them H 2 C 17 O, and D 2 13 CO for the first time in the ISM. The large range of upper energy levels covered by the HDCO lines help constrain the excitation temperature to 106 ± 13 K. Using the derived column densities, formaldehyde shows a deuterium fractionation of HDCO/H 2 CO = 6.5 ± 1%, D 2 CO/HDCO = 12.8 -4.1 +3.3 %, and D 2 CO/H 2 CO = 0.6(4) ± 0.1%. The isotopic ratios derived are 16 O/ 18 O = 805 -79 +43 , 18 O/ 17 O = 3.2 -0.3 +0.2 , and 12 C/ 13 C = 56 -11 +8 . Conclusions. The HDCO/H 2 CO ratio is lower than that found in previous studies, highlighting the uncertainties involved in interpreting single dish observations of the inner warm regions. The D 2 CO/HDCO ratio is only slightly larger than the HDCO/H 2 CO ratio. This is consistent with formaldehyde forming in the ice as soon as CO has frozen onto the grains, with most of the deuteration happening toward the end of the prestellar core phase. A comparison with available time-dependent chemical models indicates that the source is in the early Class 0 stage.
|
|
6. |
- Taquet, V., et al.
(author)
-
Interferometric observations of warm deuterated methanol in the inner regions of low-mass protostars
- 2019
-
In: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 632
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Methanol is a key species in astrochemistry because it is the most abundant organic molecule in the interstellar medium and is thought to be the mother molecule of many complex organic species. Estimating the deuteration of methanol around young protostars is of crucial importance because it highly depends on its formation mechanisms and the physical conditions during its moment of formation. We analyse several dozen transitions from deuterated methanol isotopologues coming from various existing observational datasets obtained with the IRAM-PdBI and ALMA sub-millimeter interferometers to estimate the methanol deuteration surrounding three low-mass protostars on Solar System scales. A population diagram analysis allows us to derive a [CH2DOH]/[CH3OH] abundance ratio of 3-6% and a [CH3OD]/[CH3OH] ratio of 0.4-1.6%in the warm inner (≤100-200 AU) protostellar regions. These values are typically ten times lower than those derived with previous single-dish observations towards these sources, but they are one to two orders of magnitude higher than the methanol deuteration measured in massive hot cores. Dust temperature maps obtained from Herschel and Planck observations show that massive hot cores are located in warmer molecular clouds than low-mass sources, with temperature differences of ∼10 K. The comparison of our measured values with the predictions of the gas-grain astrochemical model GRAINOBLE shows that such a temperature difference is sufficient to explain the different deuteration observed in low- to high-mass sources. This suggests that the physical conditions of the molecular cloud at the origin of the protostars mostly govern the present-day observed deuteration of methanol and therefore of more complex organic molecules. Finally, the methanol deuteration measured towards young solar-type protostars on Solar System scales seems to be higher by a factor of ∼5 than the upper limit in methanol deuteration estimated in comet Hale-Bopp. If this result is confirmed by subsequent observations of other comets, it would imply that an important reprocessing of the organic material likely occurred in the solar nebula during the formation of the Solar System.
|
|
7. |
- Taquet, V., et al.
(author)
-
Linking interstellar and cometary O2: A deep search for 16O18O in the solar-Type protostar IRAS 16293b-2422
- 2018
-
In: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 618
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Recent measurements carried out at comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (67P) with the Rosetta probe revealed that molecular oxygen, O2, is the fourth most abundant molecule in comets. Models show that O2 is likely of primordial nature, coming from the interstellar cloud from which our solar system was formed. However, gaseous O2 is an elusive molecule in the interstellar medium with only one detection towards quiescent molecular clouds, in the ρ Oph A core. We perform a deep search for molecular oxygen, through the 21-01 rotational transition at 234 GHz of its 16O18O isotopologue, towards the warm compact gas surrounding the nearby Class 0 protostar IRAS 16293-2422 B with the ALMA interferometer. We also look for the chemical daughters of O2, HO2, and H2O2. Unfortunately, the H2O2 rotational transition is dominated by ethylene oxide c-C2H4O while HO2 is not detected. The targeted 16O18O transition is surrounded by two brighter transitions at ± 1 km s-1 relative to the expected 16O18O transition frequency. After subtraction of these two transitions, residual emission at a 3σ level remains, but with a velocity offset of 0.3-0.5 km s-1 relative to the source velocity, rendering the detection "tentative". We derive the O2 column density for two excitation temperatures Tex of 125 and 300 K, as indicated by other molecules, in order to compare the O2 abundance between IRAS 16293 and comet 67P. Assuming that 16O18O is not detected and using methanol CH3OH as a reference species, we obtain a [O2]/[CH3OH] abundance ratio lower than 2-5, depending on the assumed Tex, a three to four times lower abundance than the [O2]/[CH3OH] ratio of 5-15 found in comet 67P. Such a low O2 abundance could be explained by the lower temperature of the dense cloud precursor of IRAS 16293 with respect to the one at the origin of our solar system that prevented efficient formation of O2 in interstellar ices.
|
|
8. |
- van Dishoeck, E. F., et al.
(author)
-
Water in star-forming regions: Physics and chemistry from clouds to disks as probed by Herschel spectroscopy
- 2021
-
In: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 648
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Context. Water is a key molecule in the physics and chemistry of star and planet formation, but it is difficult to observe from Earth. The Herschel Space Observatory provided unprecedented sensitivity as well as spatial and spectral resolution to study water. The Water In Star-forming regions with Herschel (WISH) key program was designed to observe water in a wide range of environments and provide a legacy data set to address its physics and chemistry. Aims. The aim of WISH is to determine which physical components are traced by the gas-phase water lines observed with Herschel and to quantify the excitation conditions and water abundances in each of these components. This then provides insight into how and where the bulk of the water is formed in space and how it is transported from clouds to disks, and ultimately comets and planets. Methods. Data and results from WISH are summarized together with those from related open time programs. WISH targeted ∼80 sources along the two axes of luminosity and evolutionary stage: from low- to high-mass protostars (luminosities from <1 to > 10Lpdbl) and from pre-stellar cores to protoplanetary disks. Lines of H2O and its isotopologs, HDO, OH, CO, and [O I], were observed with the HIFI and PACS instruments, complemented by other chemically-related molecules that are probes of ultraviolet, X-ray, or grain chemistry. The analysis consists of coupling the physical structure of the sources with simple chemical networks and using non-LTE radiative transfer calculations to directly compare models and observations. Results. Most of the far-infrared water emission observed with Herschel in star-forming regions originates from warm outflowing and shocked gas at a high density and temperature (> 10cm-3, 300-1000 K, v ∼ 25 km s-1), heated by kinetic energy dissipation. This gas is not probed by single-dish low-J CO lines, but only by CO lines with Jup > 14. The emission is compact, with at least two different types of velocity components seen. Water is a significant, but not dominant, coolant of warm gas in the earliest protostellar stages. The warm gas water abundance is universally low: orders of magnitude below the H2O/H2 abundance of 4 × 10-4 expected if all volatile oxygen is locked in water. In cold pre-stellar cores and outer protostellar envelopes, the water abundance structure is uniquely probed on scales much smaller than the beam through velocity-resolved line profiles. The inferred gaseous water abundance decreases with depth into the cloud with an enhanced layer at the edge due to photodesorption of water ice. All of these conclusions hold irrespective of protostellar luminosity. For low-mass protostars, a constant gaseous HDO/H2O ratio of ∼0.025 with position into the cold envelope is found. This value is representative of the outermost photodesorbed ice layers and cold gas-phase chemistry, and much higher than that of bulk ice. In contrast, the gas-phase NH3 abundance stays constant as a function of position in low-mass pre- and protostellar cores. Water abundances in the inner hot cores are high, but with variations from 5 × 10-6 to a few × 10-4 for low- and high-mass sources. Water vapor emission from both young and mature disks is weak. Conclusions. The main chemical pathways of water at each of the star-formation stages have been identified and quantified. Low warm water abundances can be explained with shock models that include UV radiation to dissociate water and modify the shock structure. UV fields up to 102-10times the general interstellar radiation field are inferred in the outflow cavity walls on scales of the Herschel beam from various hydrides. Both high temperature chemistry and ice sputtering contribute to the gaseous water abundance at low velocities, with only gas-phase (re-)formation producing water at high velocities. Combined analyses of water gas and ice show that up to 50% of the oxygen budget may be missing. In cold clouds, an elegant solution is that this apparently missing oxygen is locked up in larger μm-sized grains that do not contribute to infrared ice absorption. The fact that even warm outflows and hot cores do not show H2O at full oxygen abundance points to an unidentified refractory component, which is also found in diffuse clouds. The weak water vapor emission from disks indicates that water ice is locked up in larger pebbles early on in the embedded Class I stage and that these pebbles have settled and drifted inward by the Class II stage. Water is transported from clouds to disks mostly as ice, with no evidence for strong accretion shocks. Even at abundances that are somewhat lower than expected, many oceans of water are likely present in planet-forming regions. Based on the lessons for galactic protostars, the low-J H2O line emission (Eup < 300 K) observed in extragalactic sources is inferred to be predominantly collisionally excited and to originate mostly from compact regions of current star formation activity. Recommendations for future mid- to far-infrared missions are made.
|
|
9. |
- Manigand, S., et al.
(author)
-
The ALMA-PILS survey: The first detection of doubly-deuterated methyl formate (CHD2OCHO) in the ISM
- 2019
-
In: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746.
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Studies of deuterated isotopologues of complex organic molecules can provide important constraints on their origin in regions of star formation. In particular, the abundances of deuterated species are very sensitive to the physical conditions in the environment where they form. Due to the low temperatures in regions of star formation, these isotopologues are enhanced to significant levels, making detections of multiply-deuterated species possible. However, for complex organic species, only the multiply-deuterated variants of methanol and methyl cyanide have been reported so far. The aim of this paper is to initiate the characterisation of multiply-deuterated variants of complex organic species with the first detection of doubly-deuterated methyl formate, CHD2OCHO. We use ALMA observations from the Protostellar Interferometric Line Survey (PILS) of the protostellar binary IRAS 16293-2422, in the spectral range of 329.1 GHz to 362.9 GHz. We report the first detection of doubly-deuterated methyl formate CHD2OCHO in the ISM. The D/H ratio of CHD2OCHO is found to be 2-3 times higher than the D/H ratio of CH2DOCHO for both sources, similar to the results for formaldehyde from the same dataset. The observations are compared to a gas-grain chemical network coupled to a dynamical physical model, tracing the evolution of a molecular cloud until the end of the Class 0 protostellar stage. The overall D/H ratio enhancements found in the observations are of the same order of magnitude as the predictions from the model for the early stages of Class 0 protostars. However, the higher D/H ratio of CHD2OCHO compared to the D/H ratio of CH2DOCHO is still not predicted by the model. This suggests that a mechanism is enhancing the D/H ratio of singly- and doubly-deuterated methyl formate that is not in the model, e.g. mechanisms for H-D substitutions.
|
|
10. |
- Sewiło, Marta, et al.
(author)
-
Complex Organic Molecules in Star-Forming Regions of the Magellanic Clouds
- 2019
-
In: ACS Earth and Space Chemistry. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 2472-3452. ; 3:10, s. 2088-2109
-
Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The Large and Small Magellanic Clouds (LMC and SMC), gas-rich dwarf companions of the Milky Way, are the nearest laboratories for detailed studies on the formation and survival of complex organic molecules (COMs) under metal-poor conditions. To date, only methanol, methyl formate, and dimethyl ether have been detected in these galaxies-all three toward two hot cores in the N113 star-forming region in the LMC, the only extragalactic sources exhibiting complex hot-core chemistry. We describe a small and diverse sample of the LMC and SMC sources associated with COMs or hot-core chemistry, and compare the observations to theoretical model predictions. Theoretical models accounting for the physical conditions and metallicity of hot molecular cores in the Magellanic Clouds have been able to broadly account for the existing observations, but they fail to reproduce the dimethyl ether abundance by more than an order of magnitude. We discuss future prospects for research in the field of complex chemistry in the low-metallicity environment. The detection of COMs in the Magellanic Clouds has important implications for astrobiology. The metallicity of the Magellanic Clouds is similar to that of galaxies in the earlier epochs of the universe; thus, the presence of COMs in the LMC and SMC indicates that a similar prebiotic chemistry leading to the emergence of life, as it happened on Earth, is possible in low-metallicity systems in the earlier universe.
|
|