Related papers: Elemental nitrogen partitioning in dense interstel…
Nearby spiral galaxies show an extremely tight correlation between tracers of molecular hydrogen (H_2) in the interstellar medium (ISM) and tracers of recent star formation, but it is unclear whether this correlation is fundamental or…
An overview is given of the chemical processes that occur in primordial systems under the influence of radiation, metal abundances and dust surface reactions. It is found that radiative feedback effects differ for UV and X-ray photons at…
It is not known whether the original carriers of Earth's nitrogen were molecular ices or refractory dust. To investigate this question, we have used data and results of Herschel observations towards two protostellar sources: the high-mass…
Soft x-ray radiation from the sun is responsible for the production of high energy photoelectrons in the D and E regions of the ionosphere, where they deposit most of their ionization energy. The photoelectrons created by this process are…
Using the HST Goddard High Resolution Spectrograph (GHRS), we have obtained high S/N echelle observations of the weak interstellar N I 1160, 1161 A absorption doublet toward the stars Gamma Cas, Lambda Ori, Iota Ori, Kappa Ori, Delta Sco,…
Many theoretical and laboratory studies predict H2 to be formed in highly excited ro-vibrational states. The consequent relaxation of excited levels via a cascade of infrared transitions might be observable in emission from suitable…
The ratio between the two stable isotopes of nitrogen, $^{14}$N and $^{15}$N, is well measured in the terrestrial atmosphere ($\sim 272$), and in the pre-Solar nebula ($\sim 441$). Interestingly, some pristine Solar System materials show…
The question, what is the role of freeze-out of chemical species in determining the molecular abundances in the interstellar gas is a matter of debate. We investigate a theoretical case of a dense interstellar molecular cloud core by…
The formation of interstellar water has been commonly accepted to occur on the surfaces of icy dust grains in dark molecular clouds at low temperatures (10-20 K), involving hydrogenation reactions of oxygen allotropes. As a result of the…
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…
Nitrogen-bearing molecules are more difficult to observe than oxygen-bearing ones, mainly due to the lower abundance of nitrogen in the interstellar medium. Therefore, the formation pathways of many of these species is still under debate.…
In recent years, organic molecules of increasing complexity have been found toward the prolific Galactic center source Sagittarius B2. We wish to explore the degree of complexity that the interstellar chemistry can reach in star-forming…
Isomerism in complex organic molecules provides key insights into the formation mechanisms and physical conditions of the interstellar medium (ISM). Among the C$_2$H$_5$NO isomers, only acetamide and trans-N-methylformamide (trans-NMF) have…
A major motivation of spectroscopic observations of giant exoplanets is to unveil planet formation processes from atmospheric compositions. Several recent studies suggested that atmospheric nitrogen, like carbon and oxygen, can provide…
The results of experiments on the formation of molecular hydrogen on low density and high density amorphous ice surfaces are analyzed using a rate equation model. The activation energy barriers for the relevant diffusion and desorption…
We present a theoretical investigation of CN and HCN molecule formation in dense interstellar clouds. We study the gas-phase CN and HCN production efficiencies from the outer photon-dominated regions (PDRs) into the opaque cosmic-ray…
Methanol and its precursor formaldehyde are among the most studied organic molecules in the interstellar medium and are abundant in the gaseous and solid phases. We recently developed a model to simulate CO hydrogenation via H atoms on…
The dominant form of nitrogen provided to most solar system bodies is currently unknown, though available measurements show that the detected nitrogen in solar system rocks and ices is depleted with respect to solar abundances and the…
The nitrogen chemical evolution during star and planet formation is still not fully understood. Ammonia (NH$_3$) is a key specie in the understanding of the molecular evolution in star-forming clouds and nitrogen isotope fractionation. In…
Recent new high-precision abundance data for Galactic halo stars suggest important primary nitrogen production in very metal-poor massive stars. Here, we compute a new model for the chemical evolution of the Milky Way aimed at explaining…