Related papers: The interstellar heritage of comets
In this paper we use observations of molecular tracers in metal rich and alpha-enhanced galaxies to study the effect of abundance changes on molecular chemistry. We selected a sample of metal rich spiral and star bursting objects from the…
Gas-phase complex organic molecules have been detected toward a range of high- and low-mass star-forming regions at abundances which cannot be explained by any known gas-phase chemistry. Recent laboratory experiments show that UV…
We are conducting COLD GASS, a legacy survey for molecular gas in nearby galaxies. Using the IRAM 30m telescope, we measure the CO(1-0) line in a sample of ~350 nearby (D=100-200 Mpc), massive galaxies (log(M*/Msun)>10.0). The sample is…
No statistical study of COMs toward a large sample of high-mass protostars with ALMA has been carried out so far. We aim to study six N-bearing species: CH$_3$CN, HNCO, NH$_2$CHO, C$_2$H$_5$CN, C$_2$H$_3$CN and CH$_3$NH$_2$ in a large…
The Galaxy is in continuous elemental evolution. Since new elements produced by dying stars are delivered to the interstellar medium, the formation of new enerations of stars and planetary systems is influenced by this metal enrichment. We…
Complex organic molecules (COMs) have been detected in a few Class 0 protostars but their origin is not well understood. Going beyond studies of individual objects, we want to investigate the origin of COMs in young protostars on a…
The outer Galaxy is characterized by a lower metallicity than regions near the Sun, suggesting differences in the formation and survival of molecules in star-forming regions. To understand chemical evolution across the Milky Way, deriving…
The physical and chemical conditions in Class 0/I protostars are fundamental in unlocking the protostellar accretion process and its impact on planet formation. The aim is to determine which physical components are traced by different…
In the interstellar medium of the Milky Way, certain elements -- e.g., Mg, Si, Al, Ca, Ti, Fe -- reside predominantly in interstellar dust grains. These grains absorb, scatter, and emit electromagnetic radiation, heat the interstellar…
Over the last few years, the chemistry of molecules other than CO in the planet-forming zones of disks is starting to be explored with Spitzer and high-resolution ground-based data. However, these studies have focused only on a few simple…
Astrophysical observations show complex organic molecules (COMs) in the gas phase of protoplanetary disks. X-rays emitted from the central young stellar object (YSO) that irradiate interstellar ices in the disk, followed by the ejection of…
The recent observation of complex organic molecules (COMs) in interstellar ices by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), along with previous gas-phase detections, underscores the importance of grain surface and ice mantle chemistry in the…
We present multi-epoch optical spectroscopy of the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS obtained between December 2025 and January 2026 (heliocentric distances 1.8-3.3 au), yielding post-perihelion production rates and mixing ratios for CN, C$_3$,…
This paper presents a detailed study of the chemistry in the outflow associated with the low-mass protostar NGC1333-IRAS2A down to 3" (650 AU) scales. Millimeter-wavelength aperture-synthesis observations from the OVRO and BIMA…
Recent observations show that the CO gas abundance, relative to H$_2$, in many 1-10 Myr old protoplanetary disks may be heavily depleted, by a factor of 10-100 compared to the canonical interstellar medium value of 10$^{-4}$. When and how…
The interstellar medium of low-metallicity systems undergoing star formation will show chemical abundance inhomogeneities due to supernova events enriching the medium on a local scale. If the star formation time-scale is shorter than the…
A partial submillimeter line-survey was performed toward 7 high-mass young stellar objects (YSOs) aimed at detecting H2CO, CH3OH, CH2CO, CH3CHO, C2H5OH, HCOOH, HNCO and NH2CHO. In addition, other organic species such as CH3CN have been…
Chemical models and experiments indicate that interstellar dust grains and their ice mantles play an important role in the production of complex organic molecules (COMs). To date, the most complex solid-phase molecule detected with…
Molecular line observations may serve as diagnostics of the degree to which the number density of cosmic ray protons, having energies of 10s to 100s of MeVs each, is enhanced in starburst galaxies and galaxies with active nuclei. Results,…
Our aim is to determine the isotopic ratios {$^{12}$C/$^{13}$C}{} and {$^{14}$N/$^{15}$N}{} in a variety of comets and link these measurements to the formation and evolution of the solar system. The {$^{12}$C/$^{13}$C}{} and…