761 research outputs found
Complex molecules toward low-mass protostars: the Serpens core
Gas-phase complex organic molecules are commonly detected toward high-mass
protostellar hot cores. Detections toward low-mass protostars and outflows are
comparatively rare, and a larger sample is key to investigate how the chemistry
responds to its environment. Guided by the prediction that complex organic
molecules form in CH3OH-rich ices and thermally or non-thermally evaporate with
CH3OH, we have identified three sight-lines in the Serpens core - SMM1, SMM4
and SMM4-W - which are likely to be rich in complex organics. Using the IRAM
30m telescope, narrow lines (FWHM of 1-2 km s-1) of CH3CHO and CH3OCH3 are
detected toward all sources, HCOOCH3 toward SMM1 and SMM4-W, and C2H5OH not at
all. Beam-averaged abundances of individual complex organics range between 0.6
and 10% with respect to CH3OH when the CH3OH rotational temperature is applied.
The summed complex organic abundances also vary by an order of magnitude, with
the richest chemistry toward the most luminous protostar SMM1. The range of
abundances compare well with other beam-averaged observations of low-mass
sources. Complex organic abundances are of the same order of magnitude toward
low-mass protostars and high-mass hot cores, but HCOOCH3 is relatively more
important toward low-mass protostars. This is consistent with a sequential ice
photochemistry, dominated by CHO-containing products at low temperatures and
early times.Comment: 20 pages, including 5 figures. Accepted for publication in Ap
Quantification of segregation dynamics in ice mixtures
(Abridged) The observed presence of pure CO2 ice in protostellar envelopes is
attributed to thermally induced ice segregation, but a lack of quantitative
experimental data has prevented its use as a temperature probe. Quantitative
segregation studies are also needed to characterize diffusion in ices, which
underpins all ice dynamics and ice chemistry. This study aims to quantify the
segregation mechanism and barriers in different H2O:CO2 and H2O:CO ice mixtures
covering a range of astrophysically relevant ice thicknesses and mixture
ratios. The ices are deposited at 16-50 K under (ultra-)high vacuum conditions.
Segregation is then monitored at 23-70 K as a function of time, through
infrared spectroscopy. Thin (8-37 ML) H2O:CO2/CO ice mixtures segregate
sequentially through surface processes, followed by an order of magnitude
slower bulk diffusion. Thicker ices (>100 ML) segregate through a fast bulk
process. The thick ices must therefore be either more porous or segregate
through a different mechanism, e.g. a phase transition. The segregation
dynamics of thin ices are reproduced qualitatively in Monte Carlo simulations
of surface hopping and pair swapping. The experimentally determined
surface-segregation rates for all mixture ratios follow the Ahrrenius law with
a barrier of 1080[190] K for H2O:CO2 and 300[100] K for H2O:CO mixtures. During
low-mass star formation H2O:CO2 segregation will be important already at 30[5]
K. Both surface and bulk segregation is proposed to be a general feature of ice
mixtures when the average bond strengths of the mixture constituents in pure
ice exceeds the average bond strength in the ice mixture.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A. 25 pages, including 13 figure
Photodesorption of CO ice
At the high densities and low temperatures found in star forming regions, all
molecules other than H2 should stick on dust grains on timescales shorter than
the cloud lifetimes. Yet these clouds are detected in the millimeter lines of
gaseous CO. At these temperatures, thermal desorption is negligible and hence a
non-thermal desorption mechanism is necessary to maintain molecules in the gas
phase. Here, the first laboratory study of the photodesorption of pure CO ice
under ultra high vacuum is presented, which gives a desorption rate of 3E-3 CO
molecules per UV (7-10.5 eV) photon at 15 K. This rate is factors of 1E2-1E5
larger than previously estimated and is comparable to estimates of other
non-thermal desorption rates. The experiments constrains the mechanism to a
single photon desorption process of ice surface molecules. The measured
efficiency of this process shows that the role of CO photodesorption in
preventing total removal of molecules in the gas has been underestimated.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, accepted by ApJ
The c2d Spitzer Spectroscopic Survey of Ices Around Low-Mass Young Stellar Objects. IV. NH3 and CH3OH
NH3 and CH3OH are key molecules in astrochemical networks leading to the
formation of more complex N- and O-bearing molecules, such as CH3CN and
HCOOCH3. Despite a number of recent studies, little is known about their
abundances in the solid state. (...) In this work, we investigate the ~ 8-10
micron region in the Spitzer IRS (InfraRed Spectrograph) spectra of 41 low-mass
young stellar objects (YSOs). These data are part of a survey of interstellar
ices in a sample of low-mass YSOs studied in earlier papers in this series. We
used both an empirical and a local continuum method to correct for the
contribution from the 10 micron silicate absorption in the recorded spectra. In
addition, we conducted a systematic laboratory study of NH3- and
CH3OH-containing ices to help interpret the astronomical spectra. We clearly
detect a feature at ~9 micron in 24 low-mass YSOs. Within the uncertainty in
continuum determination, we identify this feature with the NH3 nu_2 umbrella
mode, and derive abundances with respect to water between ~2 and 15%.
Simultaneously, we also revisited the case of CH3OH ice by studying the nu_4
C-O stretch mode of this molecule at ~9.7 micron in 16 objects, yielding
abundances consistent with those derived by Boogert et al. 2008 (hereafter
paper I) based on a simultaneous 9.75 and 3.53 micron data analysis. Our study
indicates that NH3 is present primarily in H2O-rich ices, but that in some
cases, such ices are insufficient to explain the observed narrow FWHM. The
laboratory data point to CH3OH being in an almost pure methanol ice, or mixed
mainly with CO or CO2, consistent with its formation through hydrogenation on
grains. Finally, we use our derived NH3 abundances in combination with
previously published abundances of other solid N-bearing species to find that
up to 10-20 % of nitrogen is locked up in known ices.Comment: 31 pages, 15 figures, accepted for publication in Ap
Cold gas as an ice diagnostic toward low mass protostars
Up to 90% of the chemical reactions during star formation occurs on ice
surfaces, probably including the formation of complex organics. Only the most
abundant ice species are however observed directly by infrared spectroscopy.
This study aims to develop an indirect observational method of ices based on
non-thermal ice desorption in the colder part of protostellar envelopes. For
that purpose the IRAM 30m telescope was employed to observe two molecules that
can be detected both in the gas and the ice, CH3 OH and HNCO, toward 4 low mass
embedded protostars. Their respective gas-phase column densities are determined
using rotational diagrams. The relationship between ice and gas phase
abundances is subsequently determined. The observed gas and ice abundances span
several orders of magnitude. Most of the CH3OH and HNCO gas along the lines of
sight is inferred to be quiescent from the measured line widths and the derived
excitation temperatures, and hence not affected by thermal desorption close to
the protostar or in outflow shocks. The measured gas to ice ratio of ~10-4
agrees well with model predictions for non-thermal desorption under cold
envelope conditions and there is a tentative correlation between ice and gas
phase abundances. This indicates that non-thermal desorption products can serve
as a signature of the ice composition. A larger sample is however necessary to
provide a conclusive proof of concept.Comment: accepted by A&A letters, 10 pages including 5 figure
Photodesorption of Ices II: H2O and D2O
Gaseous H2O has been detected in several cold astrophysical environments,
where the observed abundances cannot be explained by thermal desorption of H2O
ice or by H2O gas phase formation. These observations hence suggest an
efficient non-thermal ice desorption mechanism. Here, we present experimentally
determined UV photodesorption yields of H2O and D2O ice and deduce their
photodesorption mechanism. The ice photodesorption is studied under ultra high
vacuum conditions and at astrochemically relevant temperatures (18-100 K) using
a hydrogen discharge lamp (7-10.5 eV), which simulates the interstellar UV
field. The ice desorption during irradiation is monitored using reflection
absorption infrared spectroscopy of the ice and simultaneous mass spectrometry
of the desorbed species. The photodesorption yield per incident photon is
identical for H2O and D2O and depends on both ice thickness and temperature.
For ices thicker than 8 monolayers the photodesorption yield Y is linearly
dependent on temperature due to increased diffusion of ice species such that
Y(T) = 1E-3(1.3+0.032*T) UV photon-1, with a 60% uncertainty for the absolute
yield. The increased diffusion also results in an increasing H2O:OH desorption
product ratio with temperature. The yield does not depend on the substrate, the
UV photon flux or the UV fluence. The yield is also independent on the initial
ice structure since UV photons efficiently amorphize H2O ice. The results are
consistent with theoretical predictions of H2O photodesorption and partly in
agreement with a previous experimental study. Applying the experimentally
determined yield to a Herbig Ae/Be star+disk model shows that UV
photodesorption of ices increases the H2O content by orders of magnitude in the
disk surface region compared to models where non-thermal desorption is ignored.Comment: 21 pages including 8 figures. Accepted for publication in ApJ.
Prepared using emulateapj. Abstract is shortened to fit the Astro-ph forma
Methanol ice co-desorption as a mechanism to explain cold methanol in the gas-phase
Context. Methanol is formed via surface reactions on icy dust grains. Methanol is also detected in the gas-phase at temperatures below its thermal desorption temperature and at levels higher than can be explained by pure gas-phase chemistry. The process that controls the transition from solid state to gas-phase methanol in cold environments is not understood.
Aims. The goal of this work is to investigate whether thermal CO desorption provides an indirect pathway for methanol to co-desorb at low temperatures.
Methods. Mixed CHâOH:CO/CHâ ices were heated under ultra-high vacuum conditions and ice contents are traced using RAIRS (reflection absorption IR spectroscopy), while desorbing species were detected mass spectrometrically. An updated gas-grain chemical network was used to test the impact of the results of these experiments. The physical model used is applicable for TW Hya, a protoplanetary disk in which cold gas-phase methanol has recently been detected.
Results. Methanol release together with thermal CO desorption is found to be an ineffective process in the experiments, resulting in an upper limit of †7.3 Ă 10â7 CHâOH molecules per CO molecule over all ice mixtures considered. Chemical modelling based on the upper limits shows that co-desorption rates as low as 10â6 CHâOH molecules per CO molecule are high enough to release substantial amounts of methanol to the gas-phase at and around the location of the CO thermal desorption front in a protoplanetary disk. The impact of thermal co-desorption of CHâOH with CO as a grain-gas bridge mechanism is compared with that of UV induced photodesorption and chemisorption
Desorption of CO and O2 interstellar ice analogs
Solid O2 has been proposed as a possible reservoir for oxygen in dense clouds
through freeze-out processes. The aim of this work is to characterize
quantitatively the physical processes that are involved in the desorption
kinetics of CO-O2 ices by interpreting laboratory temperature programmed
desorption (TPD) data. This information is used to simulate the behavior of
CO-O2 ices under astrophysical conditions. The TPD spectra have been recorded
under ultra high vacuum conditions for pure, layered and mixed morphologies for
different thicknesses, temperatures and mixing ratios. An empirical kinetic
model is used to interpret the results and to provide input parameters for
astrophysical models. Binding energies are determined for different ice
morphologies. Independent of the ice morphology, the desorption of O2 is found
to follow 0th-order kinetics. Binding energies and temperature-dependent
sticking probabilities for CO-CO, O2-O2 and CO-O2 are determined. O2 is
slightly less volatile than CO, with binding energies of 912+-15 versus 858+-15
K for pure ices. In mixed and layered ices, CO does not co-desorb with O2 but
its binding energies are slightly increased compared with pure ice whereas
those for O2 are slightly decreased. Lower limits to the sticking probabilities
of CO and O2 are 0.9 and 0.85, respectively, at temperatures below 20K. The
balance between accretion and desorption is studied for O2 and CO in
astrophysically relevant scenarios. Only minor differences are found between
the two species, i.e., both desorb between 16 and 18K in typical environments
around young stars. Thus, clouds with significant abundances of gaseous CO are
unlikely to have large amounts of solid O2.Comment: 8 pages + 2 pages online material, 8 figures (1 online), accepted by
A&
The chemistry of C3 & Carbon Chain Molecules in DR21(OH)
(Abridged) We have observed velocity resolved spectra of four ro-vibrational
far-infrared transitions of C3 between the vibrational ground state and the
low-energy nu2 bending mode at frequencies between 1654--1897 GHz using HIFI on
board Herschel, in DR21(OH), a high mass star forming region. Several
transitions of CCH and c-C3H2 have also been observed with HIFI and the IRAM
30m telescope. A gas and grain warm-up model was used to identify the primary
C3 forming reactions in DR21(OH). We have detected C3 in absorption in four
far-infrared transitions, P(4), P(10), Q(2) and Q(4). The continuum sources MM1
and MM2 in DR21(OH) though spatially unresolved, are sufficiently separated in
velocity to be identified in the C3 spectra. All C3 transitions are detected
from the embedded source MM2 and the surrounding envelope, whereas only Q(4) &
P(4) are detected toward the hot core MM1. The abundance of C3 in the envelope
and MM2 is \sim6x10^{-10} and \sim3x10^{-9} respectively. For CCH and c-C3H2 we
only detect emission from the envelope and MM1. The observed CCH, C3, and
c-C3H2 abundances are most consistent with a chemical model with
n(H2)\sim5x10^{6} cm^-3 post-warm-up dust temperature, T_max =30 K and a time
of \sim0.7-3 Myr. Post warm-up gas phase chemistry of CH4 released from the
grain at t\sim 0.2 Myr and lasting for 1 Myr can explain the observed C3
abundance in the envelope of DR21(OH) and no mechanism involving
photodestruction of PAH molecules is required. The chemistry in the envelope is
similar to the warm carbon chain chemistry (WCCC) found in lukewarm corinos.
The observed lower C3 abundance in MM1 as compared to MM2 and the envelope
could be indicative of destruction of C3 in the more evolved MM1. The timescale
for the chemistry derived for the envelope is consistent with the dynamical
timescale of 2 Myr derived for DR21(OH) in other studies.Comment: 11 Pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in A&
- âŠ