Related papers: Cold gas as an ice diagnostic toward low mass prot…
Gas-phase complex organic molecules have been detected toward a range of high- and low-mass star-forming regions at abundances which cannot be explained by any known gas-phase chemistry. Recent laboratory experiments show that UV…
Currently ~36 different absorption bands have been detected in the infrared spectra of cold, dense interstellar and circumstellar environments. These are attributed to the vibrational transitions of ~17 different molecules frozen on dust…
A rich inventory of complex organic molecules (COMs) has been observed in high abundances in the gas phase toward Class 0 protostars. These molecules are suggested to be formed in ices and sublimate in the warm inner envelope close to the…
Water (H2O) ice is an important solid constituent of many astrophysical environments. To comprehend the role of such ices in the chemistry and evolution of dense molecular clouds and comets, it is necessary to understand the freeze-out,…
Starless molecular cores are natural laboratories for interstellar molecular chemistry research. The chemistry of ices in such objects was investigated with a three-phase (gas, surface, and mantle) model. We considered the center part of…
We present the combined 2.5$-$30$\mu$m spectra of four protostars acquired with the infrared camera and the infrared spectrograph on board the AKARI and Spitzer space telescopes, respectively. To analyze the ice absorption features in the…
We present near-infrared spectra of three low-luminosity protostars and one background star in the Perseus molecular cloud, acquired using the Infrared Camera (IRC) onboard the \textit{AKARI} space telescope. For the comparison with…
Major components of ices on interstellar grains in molecular clouds - water and carbon oxides - occur at various optical depths. This implies that selective desorption mechanisms are at work. An astrochemical model of a contracting low-mass…
Freeze-out of the gas phase elements onto cold grains in dense interstellar and circumstellar media builds up ice mantles consisting of molecules that are mostly formed in situ (H2O, NH3, CO2, CO, CH3OH, and more). This review summarizes…
We are conducting COLD GASS, a legacy survey for molecular gas in nearby galaxies. Using the IRAM 30m telescope, we measure the CO(1-0) line in a sample of ~350 nearby (D=100-200 Mpc), massive galaxies (log(M*/Msun)>10.0). The sample is…
Isolated dense molecular cores are investigated to study the onset of complex organic molecule formation in interstellar ice. Sampling three cores with ongoing formation of low-mass stars (B59, B335, and L483) and one starless core (L694-2)…
Ice desorption affects the evolution of the gas-phase chemistry during the protostellar stage, and also determines the chemical composition of comets forming in circumstellar disks. From observations, most volatile species are found in…
Icy grain mantles are commonly observed through infrared spectroscopy toward dense clouds, cloud cores, protostellar envelopes and protoplanetary disks. Up to 80% of the available oxygen, carbon and nitrogen are found in such ices; the most…
Cold cores are an early step of star formation, characterized by densities > 10$^4$ cm$^{-3}$, low temperatures (< 15 K), and very low external UV radiation. We investigate the physico-chemical processes at play to tracing the origin of…
Nitrogen-bearing complex organic molecules have been commonly detected in the gas phase but not yet in interstellar ices. This has led to the long-standing question of whether these molecules form in the gas phase or in ices. $\textit{James…
To explain grain growth and destruction in warm media, ice mantle formation and sublimation in cold media, and gas line emission spectroscopy, astrochemical models must mimic the gas--solid abundance ratio. Ice-sublimation mechanisms…
Context. The formation and destruction of molecules in the interstellar medium is a complex interplay between gas-phase reactions as well as processes on grain surfaces and within icy mantles. For many decades, the gas-phase composition of…
Formic acid (HCOOH) and carbon dioxide (CO2) are simple species that have been detected in the interstellar medium. The solid-state formation pathways of these species under experimental conditions relevant to prestellar cores are primarily…
Context. "Snow lines", marking regions where abundant volatiles freeze out onto the surface of dust grains, play an important role for planet growth and bulk composition in protoplanetary disks. They can already be observed in the envelopes…
(Abridged) Gas-phase complex organic molecules are commonly detected in the warm inner regions of protostellar envelopes. Recent models show that photochemistry in ices followed by desorption may explain the observed abundances. This study…