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A prevailing theory for the interstellar production of complex organic molecules (COMs) involves formation on warm dust-grain surfaces, via the diffusion and reaction of radicals produced through grain-surface photodissociation of stable…
Gas-phase processes were long thought to be the key formation mechanisms for complex organic molecules in star-forming regions. However, recent experimental and theoretical evidence has cast doubt on the efficiency of such processes.…
Aims: The production of saturated organic molecules in hot cores and corinos is not well understood. The standard approach is to assume that, as temperatures heat up during star formation, methanol and other species evaporate from grain…
During the formation of stars, the accretion of the surrounding material toward the central object is thought to undergo strong luminosity outbursts, followed by long periods of relative quiescence, even at the early stages of star…
A new, more comprehensive model of gas-grain chemistry in hot molecular cores is presented, in which nondiffusive reaction processes on dust-grain surfaces and in ice mantles are implemented alongside traditional diffusive surface/bulk-ice…
Aims: The gas-phase abundance of methanol in dark quiescent cores in the interstellar medium cannot be explained by gas-phase chemistry. In fact, the only possible synthesis of this species appears to be production on the surfaces of dust…
The late stages of stellar evolution from asymptotic giant branch stars to planetary nebulae are now known to be an active phase of molecular synthesis. Over 80 gas-phase molecules have been detected through rotational transitions in the…
While astrochemical models are successful in reproducing many of the observed interstellar species, they have been struggling to explain the observed abundances of complex organic molecules. Current models tend to privilege grain surface…
We present a model for the formation of large organic molecules in dark clouds. The molecules are produced in the high density gas-phase that exists immediately after ice mantles are explosively sublimated. The explosions are initiated by…
The recent discovery of methyl formate and dimethyl ether in the gas phase of cold cores with temperatures as cold as 10 K challenges our previous astrochemical models concerning the formation of complex organic molecules. The strong…
The interstellar medium is characterized by a rich and diverse chemistry. Many of its complex organic molecules are proposed to form through radical chemistry in icy grain mantles. Radicals form readily when interstellar ices (composed of…
Context. The presence of dust in the interstellar medium has profound consequences on the chemical composition of regions where stars are forming. Recent observations show that many species formed onto dust are populating the gas phase,…
Thanks to the advent of sensitive and broad bandwidth instrumentation, complex organic molecules (COMs) have been found in a wide variety of interstellar environments, not only in our Galaxy but also in external galaxies up to a redshift of…
Planetary systems such as our own are formed after a long process where matter condenses from diffuse clouds to stars, planets, asteroids, comets and residual dust, undergoing dramatic changes in physical and chemical state in less than a…
The detection of complex organic molecules (COMs) toward dense, collapsing prestellar cores has sparked interest in the fields of astrochemistry and astrobiology, yet the mechanisms for COM formation are still debated. It was originally…
Molecular hydrogen has an important role in the early stages of star formation as well as in the production of many other molecules that have been detected in the interstellar medium. In this review we show that it is now possible to study…
Condensation of circumstellar dust begins with formation of molecular clusters close to the stellar photosphere. These clusters are predicted to act as condensation cores at lower temperatures and allow efficient dust formation farther away…
In many gravitational interactions between galaxies, gas and stars that have been torn from either or both of the precursor galaxies can collect in 'tidal tails'. Star formation begins anew in these regions to produce 'tidal dwarf…
In the interstellar medium (ISM), the formation of complex organic molecules (COMs) is largely facilitated by surface reactions. However, in cold dark clouds, thermal desorption of COMs is inefficient because of the lack of thermal energy…
Observations of star forming environments revealed that the abundances of some deuterated interstellar molecules are markedly larger than the cosmic D/H ratio of 10-5. Possible reasons for this pointed to grain surface chemistry. How- ever,…