Astrochemistry

Early Science from GOTHAM: Project Overview, Methods, and the Detection of Interstellar Propargyl Cyanide (HCCCH2CN) in TMC-1

By Keith Cowing

Press Release

astro-ph.GA

August 31, 2020

Filed under astrochemistry

Early Science from GOTHAM: Project Overview, Methods, and the Detection of Interstellar Propargyl Cyanide (HCCCH2CN) in TMC-1 — Individual line detections of propargyl cyanide in the GOTHAM data. The spectra (black) are displayed in velocity space relative to 5.8 km s−1 , and using the rest frequency given in the top right of each panel. Quantum numbers are given in the top left of each panel, neglecting hyperfine splitting. The best-fit model to the data, including all velocity components, is overlaid in green. Simulated spectra of the individual velocity components are shown in: blue (5.615 km s−1 ), gold (5.804 km s−1 ), red (6.005 km s−1 ).

astro-ph.GA

We present an overview of the GOTHAM (GBT Observations of TMC-1: Hunting Aromatic Molecules) Large Program on the Green Bank Telescope.

This and a related program were launched to explore the depth and breadth of aromatic chemistry in the interstellar medium at the earliest stages of star formation, following our earlier detection of benzonitrile (c-C6H5CN) in TMC-1. In this work, details of the observations, use of archival data, and data reduction strategies are provided. Using these observations, the interstellar detection of propargyl cyanide (HCCCH2CN) is described, as well as the accompanying laboratory spectroscopy. We discuss these results, and the survey project as a whole, in the context of investigating a previously unexplored reservoir of complex, gas-phase molecules in pre-stellar sources. A series of companion papers describe other new astronomical detections and analyses.

Brett A. McGuire, Andrew M. Burkhardt, Ryan A. Loomis, Christopher N. Shingledecker, Kin Long Kelvin Lee, Steven B. Charnley, Martin A. Cordiner, Eric Herbst, Sergei Kalenskii, Emmanuel Momjian, Eric R. Willis, Ci Xue, Anthony J. Remijan, Michael C. McCarthy
Comments: Accepted in the Astrophysical Journal Letters
Subjects: Astrophysics of Galaxies (astro-ph.GA)
Cite as: arXiv:2008.12349 [astro-ph.GA] (or arXiv:2008.12349v1 [astro-ph.GA] for this version)
Submission history
From: Brett McGuire
[v1] Thu, 27 Aug 2020 19:43:41 UTC (14,037 KB)
https://arxiv.org/abs/2008.12349
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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