Astrochemistry

First ALMA Maps of HCO, An important Precursor of Complex Organic Molecules, Towards IRAS 16293-2422

By Keith Cowing

Press Release

astro-ph.GA

November 5, 2018

Filed under astrochemistry

First ALMA Maps of HCO, An important Precursor of Complex Organic Molecules, Towards IRAS 16293-2422 — Upper: Integrated maps of HCO absorption at 86.708 GHz (velocity range between 3.5 and 4.5 km s−1; left panel) and HCO emission at 86.670 GHz (velocity range between -0.5 and 4.3 km s−1; right panel) towards IRAS16293 A. The absorption/emission contours start at -4.5/4.5 mJy, with steps of -1.5/1.5 mJy. The color scale is the 3 mm continuum emission in Jy. The beam is indicated in the lower right corner of each panel. Lower: Integrated maps of HCO absorption at 86.670 GHz (velocity range between 3.5 and 4.5 km s−1; left panel) and HCO emission at 86.670 GHz (velocity range between 1.2 and 3.6 km s−1; right panel) towards IRAS16293 B. The absorption/emission contours start at -9/6 mJy, with steps of -6/3 mJy.

astro-ph.GA

The formyl radical HCO has been proposed as the basic precursor of many complex organic molecules such as methanol (CH₃OH) or glycolaldehyde (CH₂OHCHO).

Using ALMA, we have mapped, for the first time at high angular resolution (∼1′′, ∼140 au), HCO towards the Solar-type protostellar binary IRAS 16293−2422, where numerous complex organic molecules have been previously detected. We also detected several lines of the chemically related species H₂CO, CH₃OH and CH₂OHCHO. The observations revealed compact HCO emission arising from the two protostars. The line profiles also show redshifted absorption produced by foreground material of the circumbinary envelope that is infalling towards the protostars. Additionally, IRAM 30m single-dish data revealed a more extended HCO component arising from the common circumbinary envelope.

The comparison between the observed molecular abundances and our chemical model suggests that whereas the extended HCO from the envelope can be formed via gas-phase reactions during the cold collapse of the natal core, the HCO in the hot corinos surrounding the protostars is predominantly formed by the hydrogenation of CO on the surface of dust grains and subsequent thermal desorption during the protostellar phase. The derived abundance of HCO in the dust grains is high enough to produce efficiently more complex species such as H₂CO, CH₃OH, and CH₂OHCHO by surface chemistry. We found that the main formation route of CH₂OHCHO is the reaction between HCO and CH₂OH.

V. M. Rivilla, M. T. Beltrán, A. Vasyunin, P. Caselli, S. Viti, F. Fontani, R. Cesaroni
(Submitted on 5 Nov 2018)

Comments: Accepted in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society; 19 pages, 12 figures, 7 tables
Subjects: Astrophysics of Galaxies (astro-ph.GA)
Cite as: arXiv:1811.01650 [astro-ph.GA] (or arXiv:1811.01650v1 [astro-ph.GA] for this version)
Submission history
From: Victor Manuel Rivilla
[v1] Mon, 5 Nov 2018 12:54:00 UTC (2,357 KB)
https://arxiv.org/abs/1811.01650
Astrobiology, Astrochemistry

Keith Cowing

Explorers Club Fellow, ex-NASA Space Station Payload manager/space biologist, Away Teams, Journalist, Lapsed climber, Synaesthete, Na’Vi-Jedi-Freman-Buddhist-mix, ASL, Devon Island and Everest Base Camp veteran, (he/him) 🖖🏻

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