Related papers: The 15N-enrichment in dark clouds and Solar System…
The isotopic ratio of nitrogen measured in primitive Solar System bodies shows a broad range of values, the origin of which remains unknown. One key question is whether these isotopic reservoirs of nitrogen predate the comet formation stage…
Isotopic fractionation is an important tool to investigate the chemical history of our Solar System (SS). In particular, the isotopic fraction of nitrogen (14N/15N) is lower in comets and other pristine SS bodies with respect to the value…
Nitrogen-bearing molecules display variable isotopic fractionation levels in different astronomical environments such as in the interstellar medium or in the Solar System. Models of interstellar chemistry are unable to induce nitrogen…
We investigate nitrogen isotope fractionation in forming and evolving molecular clouds using gas-ice astrochemical simulations. We find that the bulk gas can become depleted in heavy nitrogen (15N) due to the formation of 15N-enriched ices.…
Photodissociation of 14N2 and 14N15N occurs in interstellar clouds, circumstellar envelopes, protoplanetary discs, and other environments due to UV radiation from stellar sources and the presence of cosmic rays. This source of N atoms…
Using the Green Bank Telescope (GBT), we have obtained accurate measurements of the $^{14}$N/$^{15}$N isotopic ratio in ammonia in two nearby cold, dense molecular clouds, Barnard~1 and NGC 1333. The $^{14}$N/$^{15}$N ratio in Barnard~1,…
We present a complete census of the 14N/15N isotopic ratio in the most abundant N-bearing molecules towards the cold envelope of the protocluster OMC-2 FIR4, the best known Sun progenitor. To this scope, we analysed the unbiased spectral…
The investigation of the isotopic ratio of interstellar nitrogen -- $^{14}$N versus $^{15}$N -- is done, for explaining its variations observed for N2H+ in different interstellar and Solar environments. The goal is to produce cross sections…
Excess levels of 15N isotopes which have been detected in primitive solar system materials are explained as a remnant of interstellar chemistry which took place in regions of the protosolar nebula. Chemical models of nitrogen fractionation…
Ammonia is one of the best tracers of cold dense cores. It is also a minor constituent of interstellar ices and, as such, one of the important nitrogen reservoirs in the protosolar nebula, together with the gas phase nitrogen, in the form…
Understanding the origin of life-essential volatiles like N in the Solar System and beyond is critical to evaluate the potential habitability of rocky planets. Whether the inner Solar System planets accreted these volatiles from their…
In star forming regions in our own Galaxy, the 14N/15N ratio is found to vary from $\sim$ 100 in meteorites, comets and protoplanetary disks up to $\sim$ 1000 in pre-stellar and star forming cores, while in external galaxies the very few…
Samples of pristine Solar System material found in meteorites and interplanetary dust particles are highly enriched in (15)N. Conspicuous nitrogen isotopic anomalies have also been measured in comets, and the (14)N/(15)N abundance ratio of…
Isotopic ratios have been used as chemical diagnostics to investigate the origin of the material in the Solar System. We have determined the HCN, HNC, and N2H+ isotopic ratios and the chemical age in a large sample of 23 starless cores…
Detections of extragalactic $^{15}$N are reported from observations of the rare hydrogen cyanide isotope HC$^{15}$N toward the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) and the core of the (post-) starburst galaxy NGC 4945. Accounting for optical depth…
Nitrogen isotopic ratios are a key tool for tracing Galactic stellar nucleosynthesis. We present the first study of the $^{14}$N/$^{15}$N abundance ratio in the outer regions of the Milky Way (namely, for galactocentric distances, $R_{\rm…
Nitrogen (N) fractionation is used as a tool to search for a link between the chemical history of the Solar System and star-forming regions. A large variation of $^{14}$N/$^{15}$N is observed towards different astrophysical sources, and…
We report new calculations of interstellar 15N fractionation. Previously, we have shown that large enhancements of 15N/14N can occur in cold, dense gas where CO is frozen out, but that the existence of an NH + N channel in the dissociative…
The nitrogen isotope ratio 14N/15N is a powerful tool to trace Galactic stellar nucleosynthesis and constraining Galactic chemical evolution. Previous observations have found lower 14N/15N ratios in the Galactic center and higher values in…
Interstellar objects provide a unique opportunity to further our understanding of the planetary formation process by studying in detail material formed around another star. Their ices contain precious clues about the environment and…