Related papers: Water, O2 and Ice in Molecular Clouds
UV irradiation of simple ices is proposed to efficiently produce complex organic species during star- and planet-formation. Through a series of laboratory experiments, we investigate the effects of the H2O concentration, the dominant ice…
We present numerical computations and analysis of atomic to molecular (HI-to-H$_2$) transitions in cool ($\sim$100 K) low-metallicity dust-free (primordial) gas, in which molecule formation occurs via cosmic-ray driven negative ion…
Gas in galactic disks is collected by gravitational instabilities into giant atomic-molecular complexes, but only the inner, molecular parts of these structures are able to collapse to form stars. Determining what controls the ratio of…
Molecular oxygen has been confirmed as the fourth most abundant molecule in cometary material O$_2$/H$_2$O $\sim 4$ %) and is thought to have a primordial nature, i.e., coming from the interstellar cloud from which our solar system was…
Molecular oxygen, nitrogen, and ozone have been detected in the Solar System. They are also expected to be present in ice-grain mantles within star-forming regions. Laboratory experiments that simulate energetic processing (ions, photons,…
We present analytic theory for the total column density of singly ionized carbon (C+) in the optically thick photon dominated regions (PDRs) of far-UV irradiated (star-forming) molecular clouds. We derive a simple formula for the C+ column…
An accurate treatment of the multiphase interstellar medium (ISM) in hydrodynamic galaxy simulations requires that we follow not only the thermal evolution of the gas, but also the evolution of its chemical state, including its molecular…
Aims. In this paper we investigate the detectability of the molecular oxygen in icy dust grain mantles towards astronomical objects. Methods. We present a systematic set of experiments with O2-H2O ice mixtures designed to disentangle how…
Much of what we know about molecular clouds, and by extension star formation, comes from molecular line observations. Interpreting these correctly requires knowledge of the underlying molecular abundances. Simulations of molecular clouds…
We investigated the behavior of H$_2$, main constituent of the gas phase in dense clouds, after collision with amorphous solid water (ASW) surfaces, one of the most abundant chemical species of interstellar ices. We developed a general…
We study the variability of major atmospheric absorption features in the disk-integrated spectra of the Earth with future application to Earth-analogs in mind, concentrating on the diurnal timescale. We first analyze observations of the…
There is a robust polyatomic chemistry in diffuse, partially-molecular interstellar gas that is readily accessible in absorption at radio/mm/sub-mm wavelengths. Accurate column densities are derived owing to the weak internal excitation, so…
We have mapped six molecular cloud cores in the Orion A giant molecular cloud (GMC), whose kinetic temperatures range from 10 to 30 K, in CCS and N2H+ with Nobeyama 45 m radio telescope to study their chemical characteristics. We identified…
Aims. We model a diffuse molecular cloud present along the line of sight to the star HD 102065. We compare our modeling with observations to test our understanding of physical conditions and chemistry in diffuse molecular clouds. Methods.…
The properties of the ices that form in dense molecular clouds represent an important set of initial conditions in the evolution of interstellar and preplanetary matter in regions of active star formation. Of the various spectral features…
Icy grain mantles are commonly observed through infrared spectroscopy toward dense clouds, cloud cores, protostellar envelopes and protoplanetary disks. Up to 80% of the available oxygen, carbon and nitrogen are found in such ices; the most…
Understanding the gas abundance distribution is essential when tracing star formation using molecular line observations. Changing density and temperature conditions cause gas to freeze-out onto dust grains, and this needs to be taken into…
Seven isolated, nearby low-mass starless molecular cloud cores have been observed as part of the Herschel key program Earliest Phases of Star formation (EPoS). By applying a ray-tracing technique to the obtained continuum emission and…
Atomic carbon ([CI]) is a key species in the carbon chemistry of the interstellar medium (ISM). Using the Submillimeter Wave Astronomy Satellite (SWAS), we conducted a [CI]($^3$P$_1$--$^3$P$_0$) 492 GHz survey covering approximately 4…
Understanding water deuterium fractionation is important for constraining the mechanisms of water formation in interstellar clouds. Observations of HDO and H$_2^{18}$O transitions were carried out towards the high-mass star-forming region…