The cycle of metals between the gas and the dust phases in the neutral interstellar medium (ISM) is an integral part of the baryon cycle in galaxies.
Context. Radio frequency molecular absorption lines appear along sight lines with AV well below 1 mag, revealing the presence of H2 in diffuse gas even when 2.6mm CO emission is […]
Cyanopolyynes, a family of nitrogen containing carbon chains, are common in the interstellar medium and possibly form the backbone of species relevant to prebiotic chemistry.
The interstellar medium (ISM) is all but empty. To date, more than 300 molecules have already been discovered. Because of the extremely low temperature, the gas-phase chemistry is dominated by […]
The formation and alteration of organic molecules within the Solar System and beyond is closely related to the life cycle of ice in space. Cold molecular clouds in the interstellar […]
The interplay between radiation chemistry and sublimation dynamics of condensed organic compounds on cold grains is fundamental to describe observed gas-phase and ice-phase molecular abundances in the ISM.
![Plot of predicted peak [Cii] absorption opacity, τ (peak) [CII] , that would be observed at instrumental velocity resolution, against the integration time required to detect that absorption at S/N = 10. Points are plotted for FIRSST, PRIMA, SALTUS, and Origins proposed FIR telescopes. For each telescope, we plot values corresponding to the 402 diffuse-ISM candidate sightlines identified in Section 2.2.. Additionally highlighted is the region of parameter space occupied by the 3 sightlines targeted by our SOFIA-upGREAT study; these values correspond to the predicted/notional values given in Table 1 (as both observed sightlines returned null results, due to instrumental or astrophysical artefacts). We mark the parameter space where observations should be most plausible (as discussed in Section 5). Integration times incorporate any additional time required or sky observations of off positions either side of the target sightline. -- astro-ph.GA](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Measuring-Interstellar-Carbon-Abundance.png?resize=1200%2C718&ssl=1)
Carbon plays key roles in the InterStellar Medium (ISM) — as a constituent of dust, as the carrier of the dominant far-infrared cooling line, and as a component of various […]
The formation of complex organic molecules in the interstellar medium (ISM) is central to astrochemistry and prebiotic chemistry, as these species may act as precursors to biomolecules essential for life.
The study of cyclic hydrocarbons is of utmost relevance in current astrochemical research, as they are considered to be among the most significant reservoirs of carbon in the interstellar medium.
Polycyclic aromatics are ubiquitous in the interstellar medium and meteorites, yet the search for lunar polycyclic aromatics remains a significant challenge.
