Related papers: Chemistry in the Galactic Center
The Galactic center is a hotbed of star formation activity, containing the most massive star formation site and three of the most massive young star clusters in the Galaxy. Given such a rich environment, it contains more stars with initial…
We present a survey of molecules in a sample of Galactic center molecular clouds using the Karl G. Jansky Very large Array, which includes M0.25+0.01, the clouds near Sgr A, and Sgr B2. The molecules detected are primarily NH3 and HC3N; in…
In the laboratory, the photo-and thermochemical evolution of ices, made of simple molecules of astrophysical relevance, always leads to the formation of semi-refractory water-soluble organic residues. Targeted searches for specific…
Young massive clusters (YMCs) are compact ($\lesssim$1 pc), high-mass (>10${}^4$ M${}_{\odot}$) stellar systems of significant scientific interest. Due to their rarity and rapid formation, we have very few examples of YMC progenitor gas…
Molecules are ubiquitous in space. They are necessary component in the creation of habitable planetary systems and can provide the basic building blocks of life. Solid-state processes are pivotal in the formation of molecules in space and…
One of the proposed scenarios for the origin of life is the primordial RNA world, which considers that RNA molecules were likely responsible for the storage of genetic information and the catalysis of biochemical reactions in primitive…
Massive stars play an important role in shaping the structure of galaxies. Infrared dark clouds (IRDCs), with their low temperatures and high densities, have been identified as the potential birthplaces of massive stars. In order to…
The emergence of life on the Earth has required a prior organic chemistry leading to the formation of prebiotic molecules. The origin and the evolution of the organic matter on the early Earth is not yet firmly understood. Several…
G0.253+0.016, aka 'the Brick', is one of the most massive (> 10^5 Msun) and dense (> 10^4 cm-3) molecular clouds in the Milky Way's Central Molecular Zone. Previous observations have detected tentative signs of active star formation, most…
We discuss the composition of dust and ice along the line of sight to the Galactic Center (GC) based on analysis of mid-infrared spectra (2.4-13 micron) from the Short Wavelength Spectrometer on the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO). We have…
G+0.693-0.03 is a quiescent molecular cloud located within the Sagittarius B2 (Sgr B2) star-forming complex. Recent spectral surveys have shown that it represents one of the most prolific repositories of complex organic species in the…
Chemical diversity of the gas in low-mass protostellar cores is widely recognized. In order to explore its origin, a survey of chemical composition toward 36 Class 0/I protostars in the Perseus molecular cloud complex, which are selected in…
We present infrared and millimeter observations of molecular gas, dust and ionized gas towards a sample of clouds distributed along the 500 central pc of the Galaxy. The clouds were selected to investigate the physical state, in particular…
Cold gas clouds recently discovered hundreds of parsecs from the center of the Milky Way Galaxy have the potential to detect dark matter. With a detailed treatment of gas cloud microphysical interactions, we determine Galactic Center gas…
Understanding our Galactic Center is easier with insights from nearby galactic nuclei. Both the star formation activity in nuclear gas disks, driven by bars and nuclear bars, and the fueling of low-luminosity AGN, followed by feedback of…
The pre-Galactic abundance of lithium offers a unique window into non-thermal cosmological processes. The primordial Li abundance is guaranteed to be present and probes big bang nucleosynthesis (BBN), while an additional Li component is…
Galactic dust constitutes approximately half of the elements more massive than helium produced in stellar nucleosynthesis. Notwithstanding the formation of dust grains in the dense, cool atmospheres of late-type stars, there still remain…
We study the origin of large abundances of complex organic molecules in the Galactic center (GC). We carried out a systematic study of the complex organic molecules CH3OH, C2H5OH, (CH3)2O, HCOOCH3, HCOOH, CH3COOH, H2CO, and CS toward 40 GC…
The cold molecular gas in contemporary galaxies is structured in discrete cloud complexes. These giant molecular clouds (GMCs), with $10^4$-$10^7$ solar masses and radii of 5-100 parsecs, are the seeds of star formation. Highlighting the…
The interstellar medium (ISM) can be thought of as the galactic atmosphere which fills the space between stars. When clouds within the ISM collapse, stars are born. When the stars die, they return their matter to the surrounding gas.…