Search for: All records

Abstract We used new high spectral resolution observations of propynal (HCCCHO) toward TMC-1 and in the laboratory to update the spectral line catalog available for transitions of HCCCHO—specifically at frequencies lower than 30 GHz, which were previously discrepant in a publicly available catalog. The observed astronomical frequencies provided a high enough spectral resolution that, when combined with high-resolution (∼2 kHz) measurements taken in the laboratory, a new, consistent fit to both the laboratory and astronomical data was achieved. Now with a nearly exact (<1 kHz) frequency match to theJ= 2–1 and 3–2 transitions in the astronomical data, using a Markov Chain Monte Carlo analysis, a best fit to the total HCCCHO column density of ${7.28}_{-1.94}^{+4.08}\times {10}^{12}$cm⁻²was found with a surprisingly low excitation temperature of just over 3 K. This column density is around a factor of 5 times larger than reported in previous studies. Finally, this work highlights that care is needed when using publicly available spectral catalogs to characterize astronomical spectra. The availability of these catalogs is essential to the success of modern astronomical facilities and will only become more important as the next generation of facilities comes online. 

Abstract We present the spectroscopic characterization of cyclopropenethione in the laboratory and detect it in space using the Green Bank Telescope Observations of TMC-1: Hunting Aromatic Molecules survey. The detection of this molecule—the missing link in understanding the C₃H₂S isomeric family in TMC-1—completes the detection of all three low-energy isomers of C₃H₂S, as both CH₂CCS and HCCCHS have been previously detected in this source. The total column density of this molecule (N_Tof $5.72_{-1.61}^{+2.65}\times 10^{10}$cm⁻²at an excitation temperature of $4.7_{-1.1}^{+1.3}$K) is smaller than both CH₂CCS and HCCCHS and follows nicely the relative dipole principle (RDP), a kinetic rule of thumb for predicting isomer abundances that suggests that, all other chemistry among a family of isomers being the same, the member with the smallest dipole (μ) should be the most abundant. The RDP now holds for the astronomical abundance ratios of both the S-bearing and O-bearing counterparts observed in TMC-1; however, CH₂CCO continues to elude detection in any astronomical source. 

Abstract We present the synthesis and laboratory rotational spectroscopy of the seven-ring polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) cyanocoronene (C₂₄H₁₁CN) using a laser-ablation-assisted cavity-enhanced Fourier transform microwave spectrometer. A total of 71 transitions were measured and assigned between 6.8 and 10.6 GHz. Using these assignments, we searched for emission from cyanocoronene in the Green Bank Telescope (GBT) Observations of TMC-1: Hunting Aromatic Molecules project observations of the cold dark molecular cloud TMC-1 using the 100 m GBT. We detect a number of individually resolved transitions in ultrasensitiveX-band observations and perform a Markov Chain Monte Carlo analysis to derive best-fit parameters, including a total column density of $N\left({\mathrm{C}}_{24}{\mathrm{H}}_{11}\mathrm{CN}\right)=2.69_{-0.23}^{+0.26}\times 10^{12}{\mathrm{cm}}^{-2}$at a temperature of $6.05_{-0.37}^{+0.38}$K. A spectral stacking and matched filtering analysis provides a robust 17.3σsignificance to the overall detection. The derived column density is comparable to that of cyano-substituted naphthalene, acenaphthylene, and pyrene, defying the trend of decreasing abundance with increasing molecular size and complexity found for carbon chains. We discuss the implications of the detection for our understanding of interstellar PAH chemistry and highlight major open questions and next steps. 

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are organic molecules containing adjacent aromatic rings. Infrared emission bands show that PAHs are abundant in space, but only a few specific PAHs have been detected in the interstellar medium. We detected 1-cyanopyrene, a cyano-substituted derivative of the related four-ring PAH pyrene, in radio observations of the dense cloud TMC-1, using the Green Bank Telescope. The measured column density of 1-cyanopyrene is $\sim \text{1}{\text{.52×10}}^{\text{12}}$cm⁻², from which we estimate that pyrene contains up to 0.1% of the carbon in TMC-1. This abundance indicates that interstellar PAH chemistry favors the production of pyrene. We suggest that some of the carbon supplied to young planetary systems is carried by PAHs that originate in cold molecular clouds. 

Abstract Using data from the Green Bank Telescope (GBT) Observations of TMC-1: Hunting for Aromatic Molecules (GOTHAM) survey, we report the first astronomical detection of the C 10 H − anion. The astronomical observations also provided the necessary data to refine the spectroscopic parameters of C 10 H − . From the velocity stacked data and the matched filter response, C 10 H − is detected at >9 σ confidence level at a column density of 4.04 − 2.23 + 10.67 × 10 11 cm −2 . A dedicated search for the C 10 H radical was also conducted toward TMC-1. In this case, the stacked molecular emission of C 10 H was detected at a ∼3.2 σ confidence interval at a column density of 2.02 − 0.82 + 2.68 × 10 11 cm −2 . However, as the determined confidence level is currently <5 σ , we consider the identification of C 10 H as tentative. The full GOTHAM data set was also used to better characterize the physical parameters including column density, excitation temperature, line width, and source size for the C 4 H, C 6 H, and C 8 H radicals and their respective anions, and the measured column densities were compared to the predictions from a gas/grain chemical formation model and from a machine learning analysis. Given the measured values, the C 10 H − /C 10 H column density ratio is ∼ 2.0 − 1.6 + 5.9 —the highest value measured between an anion and neutral species to date. Such a high ratio is at odds with current theories for interstellar anion chemistry. For the radical species, both models can reproduce the measured abundances found from the survey; however, the machine learning analysis matches the detected anion abundances much better than the gas/grain chemical model, suggesting that the current understanding of the formation chemistry of molecular anions is still highly uncertain. 

ABSTRACT Complex organic molecules (COMs) have been detected in a variety of interstellar sources. The abundances of these COMs in warming sources can be explained by syntheses linked to increasing temperatures and densities, allowing quasi-thermal chemical reactions to occur rapidly enough to produce observable amounts of COMs, both in the gas phase, and upon dust grain ice mantles. The COMs produced on grains then become gaseous as the temperature increases sufficiently to allow their thermal desorption. The recent observation of gaseous COMs in cold sources has not been fully explained by these gas-phase and dust grain production routes. Radiolysis chemistry is a possible non-thermal method of producing COMs in cold dark clouds. This new method greatly increases the modelled abundance of selected COMs upon the ice surface and within the ice mantle due to excitation and ionization events from cosmic ray bombardment. We examine the effect of radiolysis on three C2H4O2 isomers – methyl formate (HCOOCH3), glycolaldehyde (HCOCH2OH), and acetic acid (CH3COOH) – and a chemically similar molecule, dimethyl ether (CH3OCH3), in cold dark clouds. We then compare our modelled gaseous abundances with observed abundances in TMC-1, L1689B, and B1-b. 

Abstract We present laboratory rotational spectroscopy of five isomers of cyanoindene (2-, 4-, 5-, 6-, and 7-cyanoindene) using a cavity Fourier transform microwave spectrometer operating between 6 and 40 GHz. Based on these measurements, we report the detection of 2-cyanoindene (1H-indene-2-carbonitrile; 2- C 9 H 7 CN ) in GOTHAM line survey observations of the dark molecular cloud TMC-1 using the Green Bank Telescope at centimeter wavelengths. Using a combination of Markov Chain Monte Carlo, spectral stacking, and matched filtering techniques, we find evidence for the presence of this molecule at the 6.3 σ level. This provides the first direct observation of the ratio of a cyano-substituted polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon to its pure hydrocarbon counterpart, in this case indene, in the same source. We discuss the possible formation chemistry of this species, including why we have only detected one of the isomers in TMC-1. We then examine the overall hydrocarbon:CN-substituted ratio across this and other simpler species, as well as compare to those ratios predicted by astrochemical models. We conclude that while astrochemical models are not yet sufficiently accurate to reproduce absolute abundances of these species, they do a good job at predicting the ratios of hydrocarbon:CN-substituted species, further solidifying -CN tagged species as excellent proxies for their fully symmetric counterparts.