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We report the tentative detection in space of the nitrosylium ion, NO$^+$. The observations were performed towards the cold dense core Barnard 1-b. The identification of the NO$^+$ $J$=2--1 line is supported by new laboratory measurements of NO$^+$ rotational lines up to the $J$=8--7 transition (953207.189,MHz), which leads to an improved set of molecular constants: $B_0 = 59597.1379(62)$,MHz, $D_0 = 169.428(65)$,kHz, and $eQq_0(textrm{N}) = -6.72(15)$,MHz. The profile of the feature assigned to NO$^+$ exhibits two velocity components at 6.5 and 7.5 km s$^{-1}$, with column densities of $1.5 times 10^{12}$ and $6.5times10^{11}$ cm$^{-2}$, respectively. New observations of NO and HNO, also reported here, allow to estimate the following abundance ratios: $X$(NO)/$X$(NO$^+$)$simeq511$, and $X$(HNO)/$X$(NO$^+$)$simeq1$. This latter value provides important constraints on the formation and destruction processes of HNO. The chemistry of NO$^+$ and other related nitrogen-bearing species is investigated by the means of a time-dependent gas phase model which includes an updated chemical network according to recent experimental studies. The predicted abundance for NO$^+$ and NO is found to be consistent with the observations. However, that of HNO relative to NO is too high. No satisfactory chemical paths have been found to explain the observed low abundance of HNO. HSCN and HNCS are also reported here with an abundance ratio of $simeq1$. Finally, we have searched for NNO, NO$_2$, HNNO$^+$, and NNOH$^+$, but only upper limits have been obtained for their column density, except for the latter for which we report a tentative 3-$sigma$ detection.
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N-methylformamide, CH3NHCHO, may be an important molecule for interstellar pre-biotic chemistry because it contains a peptide bond. The rotational spectrum of the most stable trans conformer of CH3NHCHO is complicated by strong torsion-rotation interaction due to the low barrier of the methyl torsion. We use two absorption spectrometers in Kharkiv and Lille to measure the rotational spectra over 45--630 GHz. The analysis is carried out using the Rho-axis method and the RAM36 code. We search for N-methylformamide toward the hot molecular core Sgr B2(N2) using a spectral line survey carried out with ALMA. The astronomical results are put into a broader astrochemical context with the help of a gas-grain chemical kinetics model. The laboratory data set for the trans conformer of CH3NHCHO consists of 9469 line frequencies with J <= 62, including the first assignment of the rotational spectra of the first and second excited torsional states. All these lines are fitted within experimental accuracy. We report the tentative detection of CH3NHCHO towards Sgr B2(N2). We find CH3NHCHO to be more than one order of magnitude less abundant than NH2CHO, a factor of two less abundant than CH3NCO, but only slightly less abundant than CH3CONH2. The chemical models indicate that the efficient formation of HNCO via NH + CO on grains is a necessary step in the achievement of the observed gas-phase abundance of CH3NCO. Production of CH3NHCHO may plausibly occur on grains either through the direct addition of functional-group radicals or through the hydrogenation of CH3NCO. Provided the detection of CH3NHCHO is confirmed, the only slight underabundance of this molecule compared to its more stable structural isomer acetamide and the sensitivity of the model abundances to the chemical kinetics parameters suggest that the formation of these two molecules is controlled by kinetics rather than thermal equilibrium.
We report a multi-week sequence of B-band photometric measurements of the dwarf planet Eris using the {it Swift} satellite. The use of an observatory in low-Earth orbit provides better temporal sampling than is available with a ground-based telescope. We find no compelling evidence for an unusually slow rotation period of multiple days, as has been suggested previously. A $sim$1.08 day rotation period is marginally detected at a modest level of statistical confidence ($sim$97%). Analysis of the combination of the $Swift$ data with the ground-based B-band measurements of citet{2007AJ....133...26R} returns the same period ($sim$1.08 day) at a slightly higher statistical confidence ($sim$99%).
The J,K = 1,0-0,0 rotational transition of phosphine (PH3) at 267 GHz has been tentatively identified with a T_MB = 40 mK spectral line observed with the IRAM 30-m telescope in the C-star envelope IRC+10216. A radiative transfer model has been used to fit the observed line profile. The derived PH3 abundance relative to H2 is 6 x 10^(-9), although it may have a large uncertainty due to the lack of knowledge about the spatial distribution of this species. If our identification is correct, it implies that PH3 has a similar abundance to that reported for HCP in this source, and that these two molecules (HCP and PH3) together take up about 5 % of phosphorus in IRC+10216. The abundance of PH3, as that of other hydrides in this source, is not well explained by conventional gas phase LTE and non-LTE chemical models, and may imply formation on grain surfaces.
High deuterium fractionation is observed in various types of environment such as prestellar cores, hot cores and hot corinos. It has proven to be an efficient probe to study the physical and chemical conditions of these environments. The study of the deuteration of different molecules helps us to understand their formation. This is especially interesting for complex molecules such as methanol and bigger molecules for which it may allow to differentiate between gas-phase and solid-state formation pathways. Methanol exhibits a high deuterium fractionation in hot corinos. Since CH3OH is thought to be a precursor of methyl formate we expect that deuterated methyl formate is produced in such environments. We have searched for the singly-deuterated isotopologue of methyl formate, DCOOCH3, in IRAS 16293-2422, a hot corino well-known for its high degree of methanol deuteration. We have used the IRAM/JCMT unbiased spectral survey of IRAS 16293-2422 which allows us to search for the DCOOCH3 rotational transitions within the survey spectral range (80-280 GHz, 328-366 GHz). The expected emission of deuterated methyl formate is modelled at LTE and compared with the observations.} We have tentatively detected DCOOCH3 in the protostar IRAS 16293-2422. We assign eight lines detected in the IRAM survey to DCOOCH3. Three of these lines are affected by blending problems and one line is affected by calibration uncertainties, nevertheless the LTE emission model is compatible with the observations. A simple LTE modelling of the two cores in IRAS 16293-2422, based on a previous interferometric study of HCOOCH3, allows us to estimate the amount of DCOOCH3 in IRAS 16293-2422. Adopting an excitation temperature of 100 K and a source size of 2arcsec and 1farcs5 for the A and B cores, respectively, we find that N(A,DCOOCH3) = N(B,DCOOCH3) ~ 6.10^14 /cm2. The derived deuterium fractionation is ~ 15%, consistent with values for other deuterated species in this source and much greater than that expected from the deuterium cosmic abundance. DCOOCH3, if its tentative detection is confirmed, should now be considered in theoretical models that study complex molecule formation and their deuteration mechanisms. Experimental work is also needed to investigate the different chemical routes leading to the formation of deuterated methyl formate.
In the early 90s, C60+ was proposed as the carrier of two diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs) at 957.7 and 963.2 nm, but a firm identification still awaits gas-phase spectroscopic data. Neutral C60, on the other hand, was recently detected through its infrared emission bands in the interstellar medium and evolved stars. In this contribution, we present the detection of C60+ through its infrared vibrational bands in the NGC 7023 nebula, based on spectroscopic observations with the Spitzer space telescope, quantum chemistry calculation, and laboratory data from the literature. This detection supports the idea that C60+ could be a DIB carrier, and provides robust evidence that fullerenes exist in the gas-phase in the interstellar medium. Modeling efforts to design specific observations, combined with new gas-phase data, will be essential to confirm this proposal. A definitive attribution of the 957.7 and 963.2 nm DIBs to C60+ would represent a significant step forward in the field.
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