Related papers: Chemical Processes in Cometary Comae
Interstellar complex organic molecules (iCOMs) are assumed to be mainly formed on dust-grain surfaces. However, neutral gas-phase reactions in the interstellar medium (ISM) can play an important role. In this paper, by investigating the…
Molecular complexity builds up at each step of the Sun-like star formation process, starting from simple molecules and ending up in large polyatomic species. Complex organic molecules (COMs; such as methyl formate, HCOOCH$_3$, dymethyl…
Determining the level of chemical complexity within dense starless and gravitationally bound prestellar cores is crucial for constructing chemical models, which subsequently constrain the initial chemical conditions of star formation. We…
The late stages of stellar evolution from asymptotic giant branch stars to planetary nebulae are now known to be an active phase of molecular synthesis. Over 80 gas-phase molecules have been detected through rotational transitions in the…
Comets formed in the outer and cold parts of the disk which eventually evolved into our Solar System. Assuming that the comets have undergone no major processing, studying their composition provides insight in the pristine composition of…
The increasing number of observations towards different environments in the Milky Way, as well as theoretical and experimental works, are improving our knowledge of the astrochemical processes in the interstellar medium (ISM). In this…
First we present a recently developed 3D chemodynamical code for galaxy evolution from the K**2 collaboration. It follows the evolution of all components of a galaxy such as dark matter, stars, molecular clouds and diffuse interstellar…
In an effort to further our interest in understanding basic chemistry of interstellar molecules, we carry out here an extensive investigation of the stabilities of interstellar carbon chains; Cn, H2Cn, HCnN and CnX (X=N, O, Si, S, H, P, H-,…
The study of comets affords a unique window into the birth, infancy, and subsequent history of the solar system. There is strong evidence that comets incorporated pristine interstellar material as well as processed nebular matter, providing…
This review discusses recent results on the astrochemistry of (mostly high-mass) star-forming regions. After an introduction on the use of chemistry in astrophysics and some basic concepts of astrochemistry, specific results are presented.…
The presence of carbon-chain molecules in the interstellar medium (ISM) has been known since the early 1970s and $>130$ such species have been identified to date, making up $\sim 43$% of the total of detected ISM molecules. They are…
In this paper we study the oxygen chemistry in the C-rich circumstellar shells of IRC+10216. The recent discoveries of oxygen bearing species (water, hydroxyl radical and formaldehyde) toward this source challenge our current understanding…
Predictions of astrochemical models depend strongly on the reaction rate coefficients used in the simulations. We reviewed a number of key reactions for the chemistry of nitrogen-bearing species in the dense interstellar medium and proposed…
Gas-phase processes were long thought to be the key formation mechanisms for complex organic molecules in star-forming regions. However, recent experimental and theoretical evidence has cast doubt on the efficiency of such processes.…
The interstellar medium is characterized by a rich and diverse chemistry. Many of its complex organic molecules are proposed to form through radical chemistry in icy grain mantles. Radicals form readily when interstellar ices (composed of…
The reactivity of interstellar carbon atoms (C) on the water-dominated ices is one of the possible ways to form interstellar complex organic molecules (iCOMs). In this work, we report a quantum chemical study of the coupling reaction of C…
Astrochemistry aims at studying chemical processes in astronomical environments. This discipline -- located at the crossroad between astrophysics and chemistry -- is rapidly evolving and explores the issue of the formation of molecules 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…
Composition of Comet dust obtained by the dust impact analyser on the Halley probes indicated that the comet dust is a mixure of silicate and carbonaceous material. The collected interplanetary dust particles (IDP's) are fluffy and…
Remote observations of comets, especially using high spectral resolution millimeter spectroscopy, have enabled the detection of over 25 molecules in comets for the last twenty years. Among the molecules identified at radio wavelengths,…