Astrochemistry: June 2020

Methyl carbamate CH₃OC(O)NH₂ is an isomer of glycine. Quantum chemical analyses show that methyl carbamate is more stable isomer than glycine. Because of this, there could be a higher chance for methyl carbamte to exist in the interstellar medium as compared to glycine.

We report on one of the highest sensitivity surveys for molecular lines in the frequency range 6.0 to 7.4 GHz conducted to date. The observations were done with the 305m Arecibo Telescope toward a sample of twelve intermediate/high-mass star forming regions.

Earth's carbon deficit has been an outstanding problem in our understanding of the formation of our Solar System. A possible solution would be the sublimation of carbon grains at the so-called soot line (~300 K) early in the planet-formation process.

There is mounting evidence that the composition and structure of planetary systems are intimately linked to their birth environments. During the past decade, several spectral surveys probed the chemistry of the earliest stages of star formation and of late planet-forming disks.

A prevailing theory for the interstellar production of complex organic molecules (COMs) involves formation on warm dust-grain surfaces, via the diffusion and reaction of radicals produced through grain-surface photodissociation of stable molecules.

Complex organic molecules that could serve as building blocks for life are more ubiquitous than previously thought in cold clouds of gas and dust that give birth to stars and planets, according to astronomers at the University of Arizona Steward Observatory.

Observations of ammonia in interstellar environments have revealed high levels of deuteration, and all its D-containing variants, including ND3, have been detected in cold prestellar cores and around young protostars.

Small imines containing up to three carbon atoms are present in the interstellar medium. As alkynyl compounds are abundant in this medium, propargylimine thus represents a promising candidate for a new interstellar detection.

Star-forming regions show a rich and varied chemistry, including the presence of complex organic molecules - both in the cold gas distributed on large scales, and in the hot regions close to young stars where protoplanetary disks arise. Recent advances in observational techniques have opened new possibilities for studying this chemistry.

The formation of our solar system was a messy affair. Most of the material that existed before its formation -- material formed around other, long-dead stars -- was vaporized, then recondensed into new materials. But some grains of that material, formed before the sun's birth, still persist.

Astronomers from the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy and the University of Jena have obtained a clearer view of nature's tiny deep-space laboratories: tiny dust grains covered with ice.