Related papers: optimizing the searches for interstellar heterocyc…
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…
The properties of the first-discovered interstellar object (ISO), 1I/2017 (`Oumuamua), differ from both Solar System asteroids and comets, casting doubt on a protoplanetary disk origin. In this study, we investigate the possibility that it…
The gas-to-dust mass ratios found for interstellar dust within the Solar System, versus values determined astronomically for the cloud around the Solar System, suggest that large and small interstellar grains have separate histories, and…
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…
We present a study on the prospects of observing carbon, sulfur, and other lower abundance elements (namely Al, Ca, Ti and Ni) present in the interstellar medium using future X-ray instruments. We focus in particular on the detection and…
Recent observations indicate that organic molecules are prevalent towards starless and prestellar cores. Deuteration of these molecules has not been well-studied during the starless phase. Published observations of singly-deuterated…
Isotopic fractionation is a very powerful tool to follow the evolution of material from one stage to the next in the star-formation process. Pre-stellar cores exhibit some of the highest levels of deuteration because their physical…
Recent laboratory experiments on interstellar dust analogues have shown that H_2 formation on dust grain surfaces is efficient in a range of grain temperatures below 20 K. These results indicate that surface processes may account for the…
We review recent studies of organic molecule formation in dense molecular clouds and in comets. We summarise the known organic inventories of molecular clouds and recent comets, particularly Hale-Bopp. The principal chemical formation…
We have used the master equation approach to study a moderately complex network of diffusive reactions occurring on the surfaces of interstellar dust particles. This network is meant to apply to dense clouds in which a large portion of the…
Chemical reactions on dust grains are of crucial importance in interstellar chemistry because they produce molecular hydrogen and various organic molecules. Due to the submicron size of the grains and the low flux, the surface populations…
The physical and chemical properties of cold and dense molecular clouds are key to understanding how stars form. Using the IRAM 30 m and NRO 45 m telescopes, we carried out a Multiwavelength line-Imaging survey of the 70 $\mu$m dark and…
The relationships between atomic and molecular hydrogen and dust of various sizes in extragalactic star-forming regions are considered, based on observational data from the Spitzer and Herschel infrared space telescopes, the Very Large…
The study of cyclic hydrocarbons is of utmost relevance in current astrochemical research, as they are considered to be among the most significant reservoirs of carbon in the interstellar medium. However, while unsaturated cyclic…
The recombination of hydrogen in the interstellar medium, taking place on surfaces of microscopic dust grains, is an essential process in the evolution of chemical complexity in interstellar clouds. The H_2 formation process has been…
The Lyman and Werner band systems of deuterated molecular hydrogen (HD) occur in the far UV range below 1200 A. The high sensitivity of the FUSE mission can give access, at moderate resolution, to hot stars shining through translucent…
The desorption of molecular species from ice mantles back into the gas phase in molecular clouds results from a variety of very poorly understood processes. We have investigated three mechanisms; desorption resulting from H_2 formation on…
The standard interstellar ratio of deuterium to hydrogen (D/H) atoms is $\sim 1.5 \times 10^{-5}$. However, the deuterium fractionation is in fact found to be enhanced, to different degrees, in cold, dark cores, hot cores around massive…
The ISO and Spitzer space observatories yielded a treasure trove of data on dust and ices covering dust grains. Now Herschel, and soon SOFIA and ALMA, will provide unprecedented views of the molecular world of the interstellar medium (ISM).…
IRAS 16293-2422 is a well studied low-mass protostar characterized by a strong level of deuterium fractionation. In the line of sight of the protostellar envelope, an additional absorption layer, rich in singly and doubly deuterated water…