Related papers: Is acetylene essential for carbon dust formation?
Context. The properties of hydrogenated amorphous carbon (a-C:H) dust are known to evolve in response to the local conditions. Aims. We present an adaptable model for the determination of the optical properties of low-temperature,…
We study the formation of molecular hydrogen on dust grain surfaces and apply our results to the high redshift universe. We find that a range of physical parameters, in particular dust temperature and gas temperature, but not so much dust…
Molecular hydrogen (H$_2$) plays a critical role in astrophysical processes from galaxy evolution to the formation of planets. While the dominant formation channel in the interstellar medium is considered as dust-catalyzed H$_2$ formation,…
A clear understanding of the chemical processing of matter, as it is transferred from a molecular cloud to a planetary system, depends heavily on knowledge of the physical conditions endured by gas and dust as these accrete onto a disk and…
Recent interstellar detections include a significant number of molecules containing vinyl (C2H3) and ethyl (C2H5) groups in their structure. For several of these molecules, there is not a clear experimental or theoretical evidence that…
We study the spatial distribution and chemistry of small hydrocarbons in the Orion Bar PDR. We used the IRAM-30m telescope to carry out a millimetre line survey towards the Orion Bar edge, complemented with ~2'x2' maps of the C2H and c-C3H2…
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) have been proposed as potential carriers of the unidentified infrared bands (UIRs) and the diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs). PAHs are not likely to form by gas-phase or solid-state interstellar…
The aromatic molecule benzene is considered the essential building block for larger polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in space. Despite benzene's importance in the formation of PAHs, the formation mechanisms of interstellar benzene…
Star formation rates in galaxies are frequently estimated using the Balmer line fluxes. However, these can be systematically underestimated because dust competes for the absorption of Lyman continuum photons in the ionized gas. Here we…
(Abridged) We aim to explore the parameters that influence the mid-infrared emission of C$_2$H$_2$ and H$_2$O, and if the spread observed in $F\rm{_{C_2H_2}}$/$F\rm{_{H_2O}}$ is tracing a variation of the C/O ratio. Our work is based on the…
Carbon-rich Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars are significant contributors of carbonaceous dust to the galactic environment, however the mechanisms and conditions for formation and subsequent evolution of dust around these stars remain open questions.…
The past century of interstellar dust has brought us from first ignoring it to finding that it is an important component of the interstellar medium and plays an important role in the evolution of galaxies, the formation of stars and…
Condensation processes, which are responsible for the main chemical differences between gas and solids in the Galaxy, are the major mechanisms that control the cycle of dust from evolved stars to planetary systems. However, they are still…
We present an extensive review of gas phase reactions producing methylacetylene and propene showing that these relatively abundant unsaturated hydrocarbons cannot be synthesized through gas-phase reactions. We explain the formation of…
We aim at determining the spatial distribution of the gas and dust in star-forming regions and address their relative abundances in quantitative terms. We also examine the dust opacity exponent beta for spatial and/or temporal variations.…
Protoplanetary disks are challenging objects for astrochemical models due to strong density and temperature gradients and due to the UV photons 2D propagation. In this paper, we have studied the importance of several model parameters on the…
Fullerenes have recently been identified in space and they may play a significant role in the gas and dust budget of various astrophysical objects including planetary nebulae (PNe), reflection nebulae (RNe) and H II regions. The tenuous…
Acetylene, among the multitude of organic molecules discovered in space, plays a distinct role in the genesis of organic matter. Characterized by its unique balance of stability and reactivity, acetylene is the simplest unsaturated organic…
We study evolution of hydrogenated amorphous carbon (HAC) grains under harsh UV radiation in photo-dissociation regions (PDRs) near young massive stars. Our aim is to evaluate the impact of the HAC grains on formation of observed small…
My thesis work aims to study the inter-relation between various physical and chemical conditions in a wide range of astrophysical environments. Our studied regions range from the super-hot regions (i.e., nebular, photon-dominated, or…