Related papers: Observations of H3+ in the Diffuse Interstellar Me…
The methylidyne radical CH is commonly used as a proxy for H$_2$ in the cold, neutral phase of the interstellar medium. The optical spectroscopy of CH is limited by interstellar extinction, whereas far-infrared observations provide an…
Research on interstellar ND3 is reviewed and updated from the discovery papers. Results from observations of a dozen sources at centimeter and submillimeter wavelengths are presented. The two data sets are consistent, but do not constrain…
We report cosmic ray ionization rates towards ten reddened stars studied within the framework of the EDIBLES (ESO Diffuse Interstellar Bands Large Exploration Survey) program, using the VLT-UVES. For each sightline, between 2 and 10…
We selected 90 massive star-forming clumps with strong N2H+, HCO+, HCN, and HNC emission from the Millimetre Astronomy Legacy Team 90 GHz survey. We obtained Herschel data for all 90 sources and NRAO VLA Sky Survey data for 51 of them. We…
We report the first detection of the phosphorus monoxide ion (PO$^{+}$) in the interstellar medium. Our unbiased and very sensitive spectral survey towards the G+0.693$-$0.027 molecular cloud covers four different rotational transitions of…
Context. High-resolution X-ray spectroscopy offers a powerful tool to investigate the physical and chemical properties of dust grains, especially through the analysis of absorption edges of elements such as oxygen, magnesium, silicon, and…
Context: Molecular hydrogen (H2) is the most abundant molecule in the circumstellar (CS) environments of young stars, and is a key element in giant planet formation. The measurement of the H2 content provides the most direct probe of the…
We present an analysis of the Fe II, Ge II, Mg I, Mg II, S I, S II, Si II and Zn II interstellar lines for 63 stars. The column density of Mg II, S II, Si II and Zn II is well correlated with the distance. However, the column density --…
Doubly ionized silicon (SiIII) is a powerful tracer of diffuse ionized gas inside and outside of galaxies. It can be observed in the local Universe in ultraviolet (UV) absorption against bright extragalactic background sources. We here…
Phosphorus related species are not known to be as omnipresent in space as hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and sulfur-bearing species. Astronomers spotted very few P-bearing molecules in the interstellar medium and circumstellar…
We discuss the possibility of mapping interstellar clouds at unprecedentedly high spatial resolution by means of near-IR imaging of their scattered light. We calculate the scattering of the interstellar radiation field by a cloud model…
We present an analysis of interstellar absorption lines in high-resolution optical echelle spectra of SS Cyg obtained during an outburst in 2013 June and in archival Hubble Space Telescope and Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer data.…
The cosmic abundance of the 3-He isotope has important implications for many fields of astrophysics. We are using the 8.665 GHz hyperfine transition of 3-He+ to determine the 3-He/H abundance in Milky Way HII regions and planetary nebulae.…
Recent observations of H2 and H3+ in diffuse interstellar sightlines revealed a difference in the nuclear spin excitation temperatures of the two species. This discrepancy comes as a surprise, as H3+ and H2 should undergo frequent…
The interstellar abundances of D I, N I, and O I in the local ISM are studied us ing high-resolution spectra of four hot white dwarfs. The spectra of GD 246, WD 2331$-$475, HZ 21, and Lan 23 were obtained with the {\it Far Ultraviolet…
We have made a sensitive search for the origin bands in the known electronic transitions of the linear carbon chains C_4 and C_5 at 3789 and 5109 A towards zeta Oph (A_V <= 1). The incentive was a recent detection of C_3 in this…
In recent years, many questions have arisen regarding the chemistry of photochemical products in the carbon-rich winds of evolved stars. To address them, it is imperative to constrain the distributions of such species through high angular…
We use far-UV absorption spectra obtained with FUSE towards three late B stars to study the formation and excitation of H2 in the diffuse ISM. The data interpretation relies on a model of the chemical and thermal balance in…
We present interstellar C II (1334.5323 \AA) and C II* (1335.7077 \AA) column density measurements along 14 Galactic sight-lines. These sight-lines sample a variety of Galactic disk environments and include paths that range nearly two…
The ``integral-shaped filament'' of the Orion A giant molecular cloud was mapped in N2H+, and its northern end, the OMC-2/3 region was observed also in HC3N and CCS. The N2H+ distribution is similar to the dust continuum distribution,…