molecular cloud Archives

From left to right: M 82 NOEMA CO(J=1-0), MIRI-F770W, and MIRI-F1130W images in cutouts of 5′ ×4.2 ′. The left panel also contains the molecular clouds identified in §3.2 (white contours), the centroid of the CO(J = 1 − 0) and the different regions identified in the starburst as described in Krieger et al. (2021). The inset in the left panel correspond to the NOEMA beamsize at ν = 115 GHz. The green crosses in the middle and right panels are indicate the optical center of M 82. The black contours in the middle and right panels correspond to the regions covered by the MIRI-MRS and the yellow boxes are the regions with Spitzer IRS data from Beirão et al. (2008); both are used in this work to apply a first-order continuum subtraction (see §3.1). -- astro-ph.GA

Astrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Status Report

JWST Observations of Starbursts: Relations Between PAH Features and CO Clouds in the Starburst Galaxy M 82

by Keith CowingJanuary 29, 2025January 29, 2025

We present a study of new 7.7-11.3 μm data obtained with the James Webb Space Telescope Mid-InfraRed Instrument in the starburst galaxy M 82.

RGB compilation in the Cygnus X region covering the footprint that we surveyed; in red is the CGPS 1.4 GHz continuum (Taylor et al. 2003), green is MSX 8 µm PAH emission Schneider et al. (2006), and blue is 13CO (1-0) tracing (some of the) molecular gas (Schneider et al. 2010). Left: The numbers enclosed by a circle in black indicate the ‘DR’ continuum sources identified in 5 GHz observations by Downes & Rinehart (1966), which are mostly thermal H ii regions, except for DR3 and DR4 that make up the supernova remnant γ-Cygni. Dotted circles show the Cyg OB2 association and open clusters NGC 6910 and NGC 6913. The region at ℓ > 80◦ commonly referred to as Cyg X North and at ℓ < 80◦ (also typically at lower latitudes) as Cyg X South are also indicated. Right: Contours of velocity-integrated C273α (moment 0), drawn at [3, 5.5, 8, ...28]σ. C273α is detected from 75% of the mapped region. -- astro-ph.GA

Astrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Status Report

Cold Dark Gas in Cygnus X: The First Large-scale Mapping of Low-frequency Carbon Recombination Lines

by Keith CowingJanuary 24, 2025January 24, 2025

Understanding the transition from atomic gas to molecular gas is critical to explain the formation and evolution of molecular clouds.

Evidence for the formation of two-center one-electron (2c–1e) bonds in the predissociation complexes of the radical cations in ethanolamine (A), propanol (B), butanenitrile (C), and glycolamide (D). The ELF basins are shown in the left column, the projections into the heavy atom planes are shown in the second column, the spin densities for the unpaired electrons are shown in the third column, and the 2c–1e AdNDP orbitals are shown in the right column. -- Chemical Science

Astrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Status Report

What Drives The Formation Of Unsaturated Molecules In The Interstellar Medium?

by Keith CowingJanuary 20, 2025January 19, 2025

We present a computational investigation into the fragmentation pathways of ethanolamine (C2H7NO, EtA), propanol (C3H8O, PrO), butanenitrile (C4H7N, BuN), and glycolamide (C2H5NO2, GlA)—saturated organic molecules detected in the interstellar medium […]

The integrated intensity (0th moment) maps of the H2CO and CH3CN line emission toward the three clouds. The inner and outer red dashed loops in the left panels show the ALMA primary-beam responses at 50% and 30%, respectively. The left panels show the integrated intensities of H2CO 30,3–20,2 and CH3CN 120–110/ 121–111, while the right panels are the zoomed-in views of the dashed boxes in the left panels. The blue contours show the 1.3 mm dust continuum at levels of 5 and 20 ×σ, where σ = 40 µJy beam−1 . The green ‘+’ symbols illustrate the peak positions of the cores identified from the 1.3 mm continuum. (The complete figure set (7 images) is available in the online journal.) -- astro-ph.GA

Astrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Status Report

ALMA Observations of Massive Clouds in the Central Molecular Zone: External-Pressure-Confined Dense Cores and Salpeter-like Core Mass Functions

by Keith CowingDecember 3, 2024December 3, 2024

We present Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) Band 6 (1.3 mm) observations of dense cores in three massive molecular clouds within the Central Molecular Zone (CMZ) of the Milky Way, […]

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Press Release

Molecules That Store Carbon Discovered In A Distant Interstellar Cloud

by Keith CowingOctober 24, 2024

The discovery of pyrene derivatives in a distant interstellar cloud may help to reveal how our own solar system formed.

James Webb Space Telesope NIRCam near-infrared image of the Orion Nebula. The field of view is 7.5 by 10.9 arcminutes, roughly 0.85 pc by 1.25 pc, and corresponds to the rectangle in Figure 2. Emission from ionized gas at the center is colored purple, while greens and browns denote emission from molecular gas and dust. Below and to the left of the very bright BN-KL object (seen in reddish pink) is the Trapezium cluster including θ 1 Ori C. (Credit: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI, K. Pontoppidan, A. Pagan.) -- astro-ph.EP

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Interstellar, Meteorites & Asteroids, Status Report

The Sun’s Birth Environment: Context for Meteoritics

by Keith CowingSeptember 19, 2024September 19, 2024

Meteorites trace planet formation in the Sun’s protoplanetary disk, but they also record the influence of the Sun’s birth environment.

Thickness of the ice in ML in simulation M_TD as a function of radius and time. The colors are a guide to the eye; the maximum value of the ice thickness (∼90 ML) is represented by yellow. -- astro-ph.GA

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Status Report

Impact of Ice Growth on the Physical and Chemical Properties of Dense Cloud Cores

by Keith CowingSeptember 3, 2024September 3, 2024

We investigated the effect of time-dependent ice growth on dust grains on the opacity and hence on the dust temperature in a collapsing molecular cloud core, with the aim of […]

Perseus Molecular Cloud H2 column density map from Herschel (Sadavoy et al. 2012; Pezzuto et al. 2012; Sadavoy et al. 2014). Overplotted are the numbered starless and prestellar cores observed (pink, gold and orange points) and those underlined in gold have had successful ARO 12m CH3CHO detections at the 𝜎𝑇mb = 6 mK level and were followed up with the Yebes 40m telescope. Cores 67 and 658 are italicized and labeled in blue, denoting these are the cores that were followed up with additional ARO 12m observations probing down to 𝜎𝑇mb = 2.5 mK. The remaining starless and prestellar cores are in magenta. In all cores CH3OH has been detected. For comparison, in green are the locations of the 27 protostars from the PEACHES sample with CH3OH detections (see their Table 5 in Yang et al. 2021). The apparent overlap in sources is a projection effect, as seen from the zoom-in insert panels for regions IC348 and NGC1333. The size of the starless and prestellar core circles are at a FWHM of 62 arcsec. -- astro-ph.SR

Astrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report

Survey of Complex Organic Molecules in Starless and Prestellar Cores in the Perseus Molecular Cloud

by Keith CowingAugust 22, 2024August 22, 2024

Cold (∼10 K) and dense (∼105 cm−3) cores of gas and dust within molecular clouds, known as starless and dynamically evolved prestellar cores, are the birthplaces of low-mass (M ≤ […]

Infant Stars In Molecular Cloud RCW 7 -- NASA

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Press Release, Stellar Cartography

Astrochemistry Update: Hubble Observes Infant Stars In Molecular Cloud RCW 7

by Keith CowingJune 22, 2024June 22, 2024

This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image presents a visually striking collection of interstellar gas and dust. Named RCW 7, the nebula is located just over 5,300 light-years from Earth in […]

Color image in both panels: HNC/HCN intensity ratio map convolved to 10.7′′ equivalent to the resolution of the 160µm Herschel map. Contours: (Left) Herschel 70/160 µm ratio. The ratio is taken in the unit of MJy sr−1 . The contour levels start at 0.5, and are drawn by an increment of 0.1. (Right) The 3-mm continuum convolved to 10.7′′. The contour levels are 0.3, 0.6, 0.9, 1.2 mJy beam−1 -- astro-ph.GA

Astrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Status Report

A Temperature or FUV Tracer? The HNC/HCN Ratio in M83 on the GMC Scale

by Keith CowingMay 16, 2024May 16, 2024

The HNC/HCN ratio is observationally known as a thermometer in Galactic interstellar molecular clouds. A recent study has alternatively suggested that the HNC/HCN ratio is affected by the ultraviolet (UV) […]

molecular cloud

JWST Observations of Starbursts: Relations Between PAH Features and CO Clouds in the Starburst Galaxy M 82

Cold Dark Gas in Cygnus X: The First Large-scale Mapping of Low-frequency Carbon Recombination Lines

What Drives The Formation Of Unsaturated Molecules In The Interstellar Medium?

ALMA Observations of Massive Clouds in the Central Molecular Zone: External-Pressure-Confined Dense Cores and Salpeter-like Core Mass Functions

Molecules That Store Carbon Discovered In A Distant Interstellar Cloud

The Sun’s Birth Environment: Context for Meteoritics

Impact of Ice Growth on the Physical and Chemical Properties of Dense Cloud Cores

Survey of Complex Organic Molecules in Starless and Prestellar Cores in the Perseus Molecular Cloud

Astrochemistry Update: Hubble Observes Infant Stars In Molecular Cloud RCW 7

A Temperature or FUV Tracer? The HNC/HCN Ratio in M83 on the GMC Scale

NASA Planetary Protection Handbook

NASA Scientists Search For Clues About Mars’ Past In Scotland

A Temperate Sub-Neptune Transiting The M4 Dwarf TOI-210 Identified By NIRPS And TESS — Uncovering Hidden M-dwarf Planetary Systems In The Near-infrared

Nonequilibrium Formation of Pyridine (C5H5N) in Interstellar Ice Analogs: Implications for Biorelevant Nitrogen Heterocycles in Ryugu and Bennu

The Abundance And Emission Of PAHs From The Local To Early Universe