Related papers: The 15N-enrichment in dark clouds and Solar System…
To trace chemical evolution in a prototypical starburst environment, we spatially resolve the carbon and oxygen isotope ratios across the central molecular zone (full size ~$\sim 600$ pc) in the nearby starburst galaxy NGC 253. We imaged…
We present results from the first large-scale survey of neutron(n)-capture element abundances in planetary nebulae (PNe). This survey was motivated by the fact that a PN may be enriched in n-capture elements if its progenitor star…
Using the Green Bank 100 m telescope and the Nobeyama 45 m telescope, we have observed the rotational emission lines of the three 13C isotopic species of HC3N in the 3 and 7 mm bands toward the low-mass star-forming region L1527 in order to…
The formation of organic compounds is generally assumed to result from abiotic processes in the Solar System, with the exception of biogenic organics on Earth. Nitrogen-bearing organics are of particular interest, notably for prebiotic…
We present the results of a study aimed at determining the 12C/13C ratio in two samples of planetary nebulae (PNe) by means of millimeter wave observations of 12CO and 13CO. The first group includes six PNe which have been observed in the…
Brown dwarfs serve as ideal laboratories for studying the atmospheres of giant exoplanets on wide orbits as the governing physical and chemical processes in them are nearly identical. Understanding the formation of gas giant planets is…
Almost 20% of the ~ 200 different species detected in the interstellar and circumstellar media present a carbon atom linked to nitrogen by a triple bond. Among these 37 molecules, 30 are nitrile R-CN compounds, the remaining seven belonging…
We studied the abundance of HCN, H13CN, and HN13C in a sample of prestellar cores, in order to search for species associated with high density gas. We used the IRAM 30m radiotelescope to observe along the major and the minor axes of L1498,…
The chemical inventory of planets is determined by the physical and chemical processes that govern the early phases of star formation. The aim is to investigate N-bearing complex organic molecules towards two Class 0 protostars (B1-c and…
We report C, N, and Si isotopic data for 59 highly 13C-enriched presolar submicron- to micron-sized SiC grains from the Murchison meteorite, including eight putative nova grains (PNGs) and 29 15N-rich (14N/15N<=solar) AB grains, and their…
N$_2$ plays a profound role in supporting processes on the surface and in the atmosphere of Pluto, yet the origin of Pluto's N$_2$ remains a mystery. However, this may begin to change as the $^{14}$N/$^{15}$N ratio of N$_2$ was recently…
The quantity of NH3 produced on grain surfaces in the prestellar core is thought to be one of the determining factors regarding the chemical complexity achievable at later stages of stellar birth. In order to investigate how this quantity…
The Texas Echelon cross Echelle Spectrograph (TEXES), mounted on NASA's Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF), was used to map mid-infrared ammonia absorption features on both Jupiter and Saturn in February 2013. Ammonia is the principle…
Pre-stellar cores represent the initial conditions in the process of star and planet formation, therefore it is important to study their physical and chemical structure. Because of their volatility, nitrogen-bearing molecules are key to…
As a work in progress, results from a chemical and physical analysis of molecular cores in early evolutionary stages concerning star formation are presented. Using archival data from the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA), a sample of 37…
We study the role played both by novae and single stars in enriching the ISM of the Galaxy with CNO group nuclei, in the framework of a detailed successful model for the chemical evolution of both the Galactic halo and disc. Once all the…
The fundamentally different isotopic compositions of non-carbonaceous (NC) and carbonaceous (CC) meteorites reveal the presence of two distinct reservoirs in the solar protoplanetary disk that were likely separated by Jupiter. However, the…
We carried out survey observations of HC$_{3}$N and HC$_{5}$N in the 42$-$45 GHz band toward 17 high-mass starless cores (HMSCs) and 35 high-mass protostellar objects (HMPOs) with the Nobeyama 45 m radio telescope. We have detected…
We have observed several emission lines of two Nitrogen-bearing (C2H5CN and C2H3CN) and two Oxygen-bearing (CH3OCH3 and HCOOCH3) molecules towards a sample of well-known hot molecular cores (HMCs) in order to check whether the chemical…
Measurements of the isotopic abundances in meteoritic amino acids have found enhancements of $^2$H/H, $^{15}$N/$^{14}$N, and $^{13}$C/$^{12}$C in the amino acids in the meteorites studied. We show that they are consistent with the…