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Register a new userThe Distribution, Excitation and Formation of Cometary Molecules: Methanol, Methyl Cyanide and Ethylene Glycol
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We present an interferometric and single dish study of small organic species toward Comets C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp) and C/2002 T7 (LINEAR) using the BIMA interferometer at 3 mm and the ARO 12m telescope at 2 mm. For Comet Hale-Bopp, both the single-dish and interferometer observations of CH3OH indicate an excitation temperature of 105+/-5 K and an average production rate ratio Q(CH3OH)/Q(H2O)~1.3% at ~1 AU. Additionally, the aperture synthesis observations of CH3OH suggest a distribution well described by a spherical outflow and no evidence of significant extended emission. Single-dish observations of CH3CN in Comet Hale-Bopp indicate an excitation temperature of 200+/-10 K and a production rate ratio of Q(CH3CN)/Q(H2O)~0.017% at ~1 AU. The non-detection of a previously claimed transition of cometary (CH2OH)2 toward Comet Hale-Bopp with the 12m telescope indicates a compact distribution of emission, D<9 (<8500 km). For the single-dish observations of Comet T7 LINEAR, we find an excitation temperature of CH3OH of 35+/-5 K and a CH3OH production rate ratio of Q(CH3OH)/Q(H2O)~1.5% at ~0.3 AU. Our data support current chemical models that CH3OH, CH3CN and (CH2OH)2 are parent nuclear species distributed into the coma via direct sublimation off cometary ices from the nucleus with no evidence of significant production in the outer coma.
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The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) was used to obtain measurements of spatially and spectrally resolved CH$_3$OH emission from comet C/2012 K1 (PanSTARRS) on 28-29 June 2014. Detection of 12-14 emission lines of CH$_3$OH on each day permitted the derivation of spatially-resolved rotational temperature profiles (averaged along the line of sight), for the innermost 5000 km of the coma. On each day, the CH$_3$OH distribution was centrally peaked and approximately consistent with spherically symmetric, uniform outflow. The azimuthally-averaged CH$_3$OH rotational temperature ($T_{rot}$) as a function of sky-projected nucleocentric distance ($rho$), fell by about 40 K between $rho=0$ and 2500 km on 28 June, whereas on 29 June, $T_{rot}$ fell by about 50 K between $rho=$0 km and 1500 km. A remarkable ($sim50$ K) rise in $T_{rot}$ at $rho=$1500-2500 km on 29 June was not present on 28 June. The observed variations in CH$_3$OH rotational temperature are interpreted primarily as a result of variations in the coma kinetic temperature due to adiabatic cooling, and heating through Solar irradiation, but collisional and radiative non-LTE excitation processes also play a role.
A spectral survey in the 1 mm wavelength range was undertaken in the long-period comets C/2012 F6 (Lemmon) and C/2013 R1 (Lovejoy) using the 30 m telescope of the Institut de radioastronomie millimetrique (IRAM) in April and November-December 2013. We report the detection of ethylene glycol (CH$_2$OH)$_2$ (aGg conformer) and formamide (NH$_2$CHO) in the two comets. The abundances relative to water of ethylene glycol and formamide are 0.2-0.3% and 0.02% in the two comets, similar to the values measured in comet C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp). We also report the detection of HCOOH and CH$_3$CHO in comet C/2013 R1 (Lovejoy), and a search for other complex species (methyl formate, glycolaldehyde).
We report the first detection and high angular resolution (1.8 $times$ 1.1) imaging of acetic acid (CH$_3$COOH) and gGg$^{prime}$--ethylene glycol (gGg$^{prime}$(CH$_2$OH)$_2$) towards the Orion Kleinmann--Low nebula. The observations were carried out at $sim$1.3mm with ALMA during the Cycle~2. A notable result is that the spatial distribution of the acetic acid and ethylene glycol emission differs from that of the other O-bearing molecules within Orion-KL. Indeed, while the typical emission of O-bearing species harbors a morphology associated with a V-shape linking the Hot Core region to the Compact Ridge (with an extension towards the BN object), that of acetic acid and ethylene glycol mainly peaks at about 2 southwest from the hot core region (near sources I and n). We find that the measured CH$_3$COOH:aGg$^{prime}$(CH$_2$OH)$_2$ and CH$_3$COOH:gGg$^{prime}$(CH$_2$OH)$_2$ ratios differ from the ones measured towards the low-mass protostar IRAS 16293--2422 by more than one order of magnitude. Our best hypothesis to explain these findings is that CH$_3$COOH, aGg$^{prime}$(CH$_2$OH)$_2$ and gGg$^{prime}$(CH$_2$OH)$_2$ are formed on the icy-surface of grains and then released into the gas-phase, via co-desorption with water, due to a bullet of matter ejected during the explosive event that occurred in the heart of the Nebula about 500-700 years ago.
Methyl cyanide (CH3CN) and propyne (CH3CCH) are two molecules commonly used as gas thermometers for interstellar gas. They are detected in several astrophysical environments and in particular towards protostars. Using data of the low-mass protostar IRAS 16293-2422 obtained with the IRAM 30m single-dish telescope, we constrained the origin of these two molecules in the envelope of the source. The line shape comparison and the results of a radiative transfer analysis both indicate that the emission of CH3CN arises from a warmer and inner region of the envelope than the CH3CCH emission. We compare the observational results with the predictions of a gas-grain chemical model. Our model predicts a peak abundance of CH3CCH in the gas-phase in the outer part of the envelope, at around 2000 au from the central star, which is relatively close to the emission size derived from the observations. The predicted CH3CN abundance only rises at the radius where the grain mantle ices evaporate, with an abundance similar to the one derived from the observations.
Comparison of their chemical compositions shows, to first order, a good agreement between the cometary and interstellar abundances. However, a complex O-bearing organic molecule, ethylene glycol (CH$_{2}$OH)$_{2}$, seems to depart from this correlation because it was not easily detected in the interstellar medium although it proved to be rather abundant with respect to other O-bearing species in comet Hale-Bopp. Ethylene glycol thus appears, together with the related molecules glycolaldehyde CH$_{2}$OHCHO and ethanol CH$_{3}$CH$_{2}$OH, as a key species in the comparison of interstellar and cometary ices as well as in any discussion on the formation of cometary matter. We focus here on the analysis of ethylene glycol in the nearest and best studied hot core-like region, Orion-KL. We use ALMA interferometric data because high spatial resolution observations allow us to reduce the line confusion problem with respect to single-dish observations since different molecules are expected to exhibit different spatial distributions. Furthermore, a large spectral bandwidth is needed because many individual transitions are required to securely detect large organic molecules. Confusion and continuum subtraction are major issues and have been handled with care. We have detected the aGg conformer of ethylene glycol in Orion-KL. The emission is compact and peaks towards the Hot Core close to the main continuum peak, about 2 to the south-west; this distribution is notably different from other O-bearing species. Assuming optically thin lines and local thermodynamic equilibrium, we derive a rotational temperature of 145 K and a column density of 4.6 10$^{15}$ cm$^{-2}$. The limit on the column density of the gGg conformer is five times lower.
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