1. |
- Bulut, N., et al.
(author)
-
Gas phase Elemental abundances in Molecular cloudS (GEMS): III. Unlocking the CS chemistry: The CS+O reaction
- 2021
-
In: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 646
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Context. Carbon monosulphide (CS) is among the most abundant gas-phase S-bearing molecules in cold dark molecular clouds. It is easily observable with several transitions in the millimeter wavelength range, and has been widely used as a tracer of the gas density in the interstellar medium in our Galaxy and external galaxies. However, chemical models fail to account for the observed CS abundances when assuming the cosmic value for the elemental abundance of sulfur. Aims. The CS+O → CO + S reaction has been proposed as a relevant CS destruction mechanism at low temperatures, and could explain the discrepancy between models and observations. Its reaction rate has been experimentally measured at temperatures of 150-400 K, but the extrapolation to lower temperatures is doubtful. Our goal is to calculate the CS+O reaction rate at temperatures <150 K which are prevailing in the interstellar medium. Methods. We performed ab initio calculations to obtain the three lowest potential energy surfaces (PES) of the CS+O system. These PESs are used to study the reaction dynamics, using several methods (classical, quantum, and semiclassical) to eventually calculate the CS + O thermal reaction rates. In order to check the accuracy of our calculations, we compare the results of our theoretical calculations for T ~ 150-400 K with those obtained in the laboratory. Results. Our detailed theoretical study on the CS+O reaction, which is in agreement with the experimental data obtained at 150-400 K, demonstrates the reliability of our approach. After a careful analysis at lower temperatures, we find that the rate constant at 10 K is negligible, below 10-15 cm s-1, which is consistent with the extrapolation of experimental data using the Arrhenius expression. Conclusions. We use the updated chemical network to model the sulfur chemistry in Taurus Molecular Cloud 1 (TMC 1) based on molecular abundances determined from Gas phase Elemental abundances in Molecular CloudS (GEMS) project observations. In our model, we take into account the expected decrease of the cosmic ray ionization rate, ζH2, along the cloud. The abundance of CS is still overestimated when assuming the cosmic value for the sulfur abundance.
|
|
2. |
- Navarro-Almaida, D., et al.
(author)
-
Gas phase Elemental abundances in Molecular cloudS (GEMS): II. On the quest for the sulphur reservoir in molecular clouds: the H2S case
- 2020
-
In: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 637
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Context. Sulphur is one of the most abundant elements in the Universe. Surprisingly, sulphuretted molecules are not as abundant as expected in the interstellar medium and the identity of the main sulphur reservoir is still an open question. Aims. Our goal is to investigate the H2S chemistry in dark clouds, as this stable molecule is a potential sulphur reservoir. Methods. Using millimeter observations of CS, SO, H2S, and their isotopologues, we determine the physical conditions and H2S abundances along the cores TMC 1-C, TMC 1-CP, and Barnard 1b. The gas-grain model NAUTILUS is used to model the sulphur chemistry and explore the impact of photo-desorption and chemical desorption on the H2S abundance. Results. Our modeling shows that chemical desorption is the main source of gas-phase H2S in dark cores. The measured H2S abundance can only be fitted if we assume that the chemical desorption rate decreases by more than a factor of 10 when n(H) > 2 x 10(4). This change in the desorption rate is consistent with the formation of thick H2O and CO ice mantles on grain surfaces. The observed SO and H2S abundances are in good agreement with our predictions adopting an undepleted value of the sulphur abundance. However, the CS abundance is overestimated by a factor of 5-10. Along the three cores, atomic S is predicted to be the main sulphur reservoir. Conclusions. The gaseous H2S abundance is well reproduced, assuming undepleted sulphur abundance and chemical desorption as the main source of H2S. The behavior of the observed H2S abundance suggests a changing desorption efficiency, which would probe the snowline in these cold cores. Our model, however, highly overestimates the observed gas-phase CS abundance. Given the uncertainty in the sulphur chemistry, we can only conclude that our data are consistent with a cosmic elemental S abundance with an uncertainty of a factor of 10.
|
|
3. |
- 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.
|
|
4. |
- Rodríguez-Baras, M., et al.
(author)
-
Gas phase Elemental abundances in Molecular cloudS (GEMS): IV. Observational results and statistical trends
- 2021
-
In: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 648
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Gas phase Elemental abundances in Molecular CloudS (GEMS) is an IRAM 30 m Large Program designed to provide estimates of the S, C, N, and O depletions and gas ionization degree, X(e-), in a selected set of star-forming filaments of Taurus, Perseus, and Orion. Our immediate goal is to build up a complete and large database of molecular abundances that can serve as an observational basis for estimating X(e-) and the C, O, N, and S depletions through chemical modeling. We observed and derived the abundances of 14 species (13CO, C18O, HCO+, H13CO+, HC18O+, HCN, H13CN, HNC, HCS+, CS, SO, 34SO, H2S, and OCS) in 244 positions, covering the AV ~3 to ~100 mag, n(H2) ~ a few 103 to 106 cm-3, and Tk ~10 to ~30 K ranges in these clouds, and avoiding protostars, HII regions, and bipolar outflows. A statistical analysis is carried out in order to identify general trends between different species and with physical parameters. Relations between molecules reveal strong linear correlations which define three different families of species: (1) 13CO and C18O isotopologs; (2) H13CO+, HC18O+, H13 CN, and HNC; and (3) the S-bearing molecules. The abundances of the CO isotopologs increase with the gas kinetic temperature until TK ~ 15 K. For higher temperatures, the abundance remains constant with a scatter of a factor of ~3. The abundances of H13 CO+, HC18 O+, H13 CN, and HNC are well correlated with each other, and all of them decrease with molecular hydrogen density, following the law ∝ n(H2)-0.8 ± 0.2. The abundances of S-bearing species also decrease with molecular hydrogen density at a rate of (S-bearing/H)gas ∝ n(H2)-0.6 ± 0.1. The abundances of molecules belonging to groups 2 and 3 do not present any clear trend with gas temperature. At scales of molecular clouds, the C18O abundance is the quantity that better correlates with the cloud mass. We discuss the utility of the 13CO/C18O, HCO+/H13CO+, and H13 CO+/H13CN abundance ratios as chemical diagnostics of star formation in external galaxies.
|
|
5. |
- Navarro-Almaida, D., et al.
(author)
-
Evolutionary view through the starless cores in Taurus: Deuteration in TMC 1-C and TMC 1-CP
- 2021
-
In: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 653
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Context. The chemical and physical evolution of starless and pre-stellar cores are of paramount importance to understanding the process of star formation. The Taurus Molecular Cloud cores TMC 1-C and TMC 1-CP share similar initial conditions and provide an excellent opportunity to understand the evolution of the pre-stellar core phase. Aims. We investigated the evolutionary stage of starless cores based on observations towards the prototypical dark cores TMC 1-C and TMC 1-CP. Methods. We mapped the prototypical dark cores TMC 1-C and TMC 1-CP in the CS 3 → 2, C34S 3 → 2, 13CS 2 → 1, DCN 1 → 0, DCN 2 → 1, DNC 1 → 0, DNC 2 → 1, DN13C 1 → 0, DN13C 2 → 1, N2H+ 1 → 0, and N2D+ 1 → 0 transitions. We performed a multi-transitional study of CS and its isotopologs, DCN, and DNC lines to characterize the physical and chemical properties of these cores. We studied their chemistry using the state-of-the-art gas-grain chemical code NAUTILUS and pseudo time-dependent models to determine their evolutionary stage. Results. The central nH volume density, the N2H+ column density, and the abundances of deuterated species are higher in TMC 1-C than in TMC 1-CP, yielding a higher N2H+ deuterium fraction in TMC 1-C, thus indicating a later evolutionary stage for TMC 1-C. The chemical modeling with pseudo time-dependent models and their radiative transfer are in agreement with this statement, allowing us to estimate a collapse timescale of ~1 Myr for TMC 1-C. Models with a younger collapse scenario or a collapse slowed down by a magnetic support are found to more closely reproduce the observations towards TMC 1-CP. Conclusions. Observational diagnostics seem to indicate that TMC 1-C is in a later evolutionary stage than TMC 1-CP, with a chemical age ~1 Myr. TMC 1-C shows signs of being an evolved core at the onset of star formation, while TMC 1-CP appears to be in an earlier evolutionary stage due to a more recent formation or, alternatively, a collapse slowed down by a magnetic support.
|
|