Related papers: Neutral and Ionized Hydrides in Star-forming Regio…
The Herschel Space Observatory opens the sky for observations in the far infrared at high spectral and spatial resolution. A particular class of molecules will be directly observable; light diatomic hydrides and their ions (CH, OH, SH, NH,…
Context: Hydrides of the most abundant heavier elements are fundamental molecules in cosmic chemistry. Some of them trace gas irradiated by UV or X-rays. Aims: We explore the abundances of major hydrides in W3 IRS5, a prototypical region of…
Molecules containing one or a few hydrogen atoms and a heavier atom (hydrides) have been predicted to trace FUV radiation. In some chemical models, FUV emission by the central object or protostar of a star forming region greatly enhances…
Hydrides are simple compounds containing one or a few hydrogen atoms bonded to a heavier atom. They are fundamental precursor molecules in cosmic chemistry and many hydride ions have become observable in high quality for the first time…
The Heterodyne Instrument for the Far Infrared (HIFI) onboard the Herschel Space Observatory allows the first observations of light diatomic molecules at high spectral resolution and in multiple transitions. Here, we report deep…
'Water In Star-forming regions with Herschel' (WISH) is a key programme dedicated to studying the role of water and related species during the star-formation process and constraining the physical and chemical properties of young stellar…
Our present understanding of high-mass star formation still remains very schematic. In particular, it is not yet clear how much of the difference between low-mass and high-mass star formation occurs during the earliest star formation…
Herschel-HIFI observations of high-J lines (up to J_u=10) of 12CO, 13CO and C18O are presented toward three deeply embedded low-mass protostars, NGC 1333 IRAS 2A, IRAS 4A, and IRAS 4B, obtained as part of the Water In Star-forming regions…
(Abridged) We present Herschel/HIFI spectra of the H2O 1113 GHz and H2O+ 1115 GHz lines toward five nearby prototypical starburst/AGN systems, and OH+ 971 GHz spectra toward three of these. The beam size of 20" corresponds to resolutions…
The H3+ and H2D+ ions are important probes of the physical and chemical conditions in regions of the interstellar medium where new stars are forming. This paper reviews how observations of these species and of heavier ions such as HCO+ and…
Aims. The HIFI instrument onboard Herschel has allowed high spectral resolution and sensitive observations of ground-state transi- tions of three molecular ions: the methylidyne cation CH+, its isotopologue 13CH+, and sulfanylium SH+.…
Previous work by various authors has suggested that the detection by Herschel/HIFI of nitrogen hydrides along the low density lines of sight towards G10.6-0.4 (W31C) cannot be accounted for by gas-phase chemical models. In this paper we…
We derive the dense core structure and the water abundance in four massive star-forming regions which may help understand the earliest stages of massive star formation. We present Herschel-HIFI observations of the para-H2O 1_11-0_00 and…
The abundances of interstellar CH+ and SH+ are not well understood as their most likely formation channels are highly endothermic. Using data from Herschel, we study the formation of CH+ and SH+ in a typical high UV-illumination…
The CH$^+$ ion is a key species in the initial steps of interstellar carbon chemistry. Its formation in diverse environments where it is observed is not well understood, however, because the main production pathway is so endothermic (4280…
The expansion of Galactic HII regions can trigger the formation of a new generation of stars. However, little is know about the physical conditions that prevail in these regions. We study the physical conditions that prevail in specific…
The central regions of many interacting and early-type spiral galaxies are actively forming stars. This process affects the physical and chemical properties of the local interstellar medium as well as the evolution of the galaxies. We…
High-mass stars form in much richer environments than those associated with isolated low-mass stars, and once they reach a certain mass, produce ionised (HII) regions. The formation of these pockets of ionised gas are unique to the…
The HIFI instrument on board the Herschel Space Observatory has been used to observe interstellar nitrogen hydrides along the sight-line towards G10.6-0.4 in order to improve our understanding of the interstellar chemistry of nitrogen. We…
We present a systematic survey of multiple velocity-resolved H$_2$O spectra using Herschel/HIFI towards nine nearby actively star forming galaxies. The ground-state and low-excitation lines (E$_{\rm up}\,\le 130\,{\rm K}$) show profiles…