Related papers: Benzonitrile as a proxy for benzene in the cold IS…
The unexpectedly strong 21cm absorption signal detected by the EDGES experiment suggests that the baryonic gas was colder at redshift $z\sim 17$ than predicted in the standard scenario. We discuss a mechanism to lower the baryon temperature…
Electronically excited nitrogen atoms N(2D) are important species in the photochemistry of N2 based planetary atmospheres such as Titan. Despite this, few N(2D) reactions have been studied over the appropriate low temperature range. During…
We study the physical properties and molecular excitation of the different warm gas components found in the protoplanetary nebula CRL 618. We revise our previous Herschel/HIFI observations, which consist of several 12CO and 13CO lines in…
Up to 90% of the chemical reactions during star formation occurs on ice surfaces, probably including the formation of complex organics. Only the most abundant ice species are however observed directly by infrared spectroscopy. This study…
Liquid-liquid equilibrium (LLE) phase diagrams have been determined, by means of the critical opalescence method with a laser scattering technique, for the mixtures 4-phenylbutan-2-one + CH$_3$(CH$_2$)$_n$CH$_3$ ($n = 10,12,14$) and for…
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. Of these 37 molecules, 30 are nitrile R-CN compounds, the remaining 7 belonging to…
We carried out an experiment in order to obtain the InfraRed (IR) spectra of methyl propionate (CH3CH2COOCH3) in astrochemical conditions and present the IR spectra for future identification of this molecule in the InterStellar Medium…
We report the results of an effort to measure the low frequency portion of the spectrum of the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation (CMB), using a balloon-borne instrument called ARCADE (Absolute Radiometer for Cosmology, Astrophysics, and…
Complex organic molecules (COMs) have been detected in the gas-phase in cold and lightless molecular cores. Recent solid-state laboratory experiments have provided strong evidence that COMs can be formed on icy grains through…
The associated magnetic moments of the periodic rotational motion of methyl groups in hexamethylbenzene C$_6$(CH$_3$)$_6$ were recently identified to contribute to its overall magnetic susceptibility. Those measurements however, were only…
We report the first identification in space of H2NC, a high-energy isomer of H2CN that has been largely ignored in chemical and astrochemical studies. The observation of various unidentified lines around 72.2 GHz in the cold dark cloud L483…
The kinetics of the reactions of nitrogen dioxide, NO$_2$, with atomic oxygen and atomic carbon in their ground triplet states ($^3$P) have been studied at room temperature and below using a supersonic flow (Laval nozzle) reactor. O($^3$P)…
Chemistry plays an important role in the interstellar medium (ISM), regulating heating and cooling of the gas, and determining abundances of molecular species that trace gas properties in observations. Although solving the time-dependent…
In the interstellar medium (ISM), polycylic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are believed to be an important carbon reservoir, accounting for up to a quarter of all interstellar carbon in our galaxy. This makes the investigation of their…
The experimental determination of the reaction rate coefficients for production and destruction of $\text{HCN}^+$ and $\text{HNC}^+$ in collisions with $\text{H}_2$ is presented. A variable temperature 22 pole radio frequency ion trap was…
Radioastronomical observations have recently discovered PAHs of moderate size (up to 24 carbon atoms) in cold dark clouds, although it is currently unknown whether they are formed in situ through a bottom-up mechanism or from larger PAHs…
We have investigated cold ionizing heteronuclear collisions in dilute mixtures of metastable (2 3S1) 3He and 4He atoms, extending our previous work on the analogous homonuclear collisions [R. J. W. Stas et al., PRA 73, 032713 (2006)]. A…
We study the chemical evolution of H2O:CO:NH3 ice mixtures irradiated with soft X-rays, in the range 250-1250 eV. We identify many nitrogen-bearing molecules such as e.g., OCN-, NH4+ , HNCO, CH3CN, HCONH2, and NH2COCONH2. Several infrared…
Quantum chemistry provides accurate and reliable methods to investigate reaction pathways of reactive molecular systems relevant to the interstellar medium. However, the exhaustive exploration of a reactive network is often a daunting task,…
Methanol is formed via surface reactions on icy dust grains. Methanol is also detected in the gas-phase at temperatures below its thermal desorption temperature and at levels higher than can be explained by pure gas-phase chemistry. The…