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Register a new userComplex Organic Molecules Towards Embedded Low-Mass Protostars
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Complex organic molecules (COMs) have been observed towards several low-mass young stellar objects (LYSOs). Small and heterogeneous samples have so far precluded conclusions on typical COM abundances, as well as the origin(s) of abundance variations between sources. We present observations towards 16 deeply embedded (Class 0/I) low-mass protostars using the IRAM 30m telescope. We detect CH$_2$CO, CH$_3$CHO, CH$_3$OCH$_3$, CH$_3$OCHO, CH$_3$CN, HNCO, and HC$_3$N towards 67%, 37%, 13%, 13%, 44%, 81%, and 75% of sources respectively. Median column densities derived using survival analysis range between 6.0x10$^{10}$ cm$^{-2}$ (CH$_3$CN) and 2.4x10$^{12}$ cm$^{-2}$ (CH$_3$OCH$_3$) and median abundances range between 0.48% (CH$_3$CN) and 16% (HNCO) with respect to CH$_3$OH. Column densities for each molecule vary by about one order of magnitude across the sample. Abundances with respect to CH$_3$OH are more narrowly distributed, especially for oxygen-bearing species. We compare observed median abundances with a chemical model for low-mass protostars and find fair agreement, although some modeling work remains to bring abundances higher with respect to CH$_3$OH. Median abundances with respect to CH$_3$OH in LYSOs are also found to be generally comparable to observed abundances in hot cores, hot corinos, and massive young stellar objects. Compared with comets, our sample is comparable for all molecules except HC$_3$N and CH$_2$CO, which likely become depleted at later evolutionary stages.
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The chemical inventory of planets is determined by the physical and chemical processes that govern the early phases of star formation. The aim is to investigate N-bearing complex organic molecules towards two Class 0 protostars (B1-c and S68N) at millimetre wavelengths with ALMA. Next, the results of the detected N-bearing species are compared with those of O-bearing species for the same and other sources. ALMA observations in Band 6 ($sim$ 1 mm) and Band 5 ($sim$ 2 mm) are studied at $sim$ 0.5 resolution, complemented by Band 3 ($sim$ 3 mm) data in a $sim$ 2.5 beam. NH2CHO, C2H5CN, HNCO, HN13CO, DNCO, CH3CN, CH2DCN, and CHD2CN are identified towards the investigated sources. Their abundances relative to CH3OH and HNCO are similar for the two sources, with column densities that are typically an order of magnitude lower than those of O-bearing species. The largest variations, of an order of magnitude, are seen for NH2CHO abundance ratios with respect to HNCO and CH3OH and do not correlate with the protostellar luminosity. In addition, within uncertainties, the N-bearing species have similar excitation temperatures to those of O-bearing species ($sim$ 100 $sim$ 300 K). The similarity of most abundances with respect to HNCO, including those of CH2DCN and CHD2CN, hints at a shared chemical history, especially the high D/H ratio in cold regions prior to star formation. However, some of the variations in abundances may reflect the sensitivity of the chemistry to local conditions such as temperature (e.g. NH2CHO), while others may arise from differences in the emitting areas of the molecules linked to their different binding energies in the ice. The two sources discussed here add to the small number of sources with such a detailed chemical analysis on Solar System scales. Future JWST data will allow a direct comparison between the ice and gas abundances of N-bearing species.
To date, about two dozen low-mass embedded protostars exhibit rich spectra with lines of complex organic molecule (COM). These protostars seem to possess different enrichment in COMs. However, the statistics of COM abundance in low-mass protostars are limited by the scarcity of observations. This study introduces the Perseus ALMA Chemistry Survey (PEACHES), which aims at unbiasedly characterizing the chemistry of COMs toward the embedded (Class 0/I) protostars in the Perseus molecular cloud. Of 50 embedded protostars surveyed, 58% of them have emission from COMs. A 56%, 32%, and 40% of the protostars have CH$_3$OH, CH$_3$OCHO, and N-bearing COMs, respectively. The detectability of COMs depends neither on the averaged continuum brightness temperature, a proxy of the H$_2$ column density, nor on the bolometric luminosity and the bolometric temperature. For the protostars with detected COMs, CH$_3$OH has a tight correlation with CH$_3$CN, spanning more than two orders of magnitude in column densities normalized by the continuum brightness temperature, suggesting a chemical relation between CH$_3$OH and CH$_3$CN and a large chemical diversity in the PEACHES samples at the same time. A similar trend with more scatter is also found between all identified COMs, hinting at a common chemistry for the sources with COMs. The correlation between COMs is insensitive to the protostellar properties, such as the bolometric luminosity and the bolometric temperature. The abundance of larger COMs (CH$_3$OCHO and CH$_3$OCH$_3$) relative to that of smaller COMs (CH$_3$OH and CH$_3$CN) increases with the inferred gas column density, hinting at an efficient production of complex species in denser envelopes.
Aims. Young stars interact vigorously with their surroundings, as evident from the highly rotationally excited CO (up to Eup=4000 K) and H2O emission (up to 600 K) detected by the Herschel Space Observatory in embedded low-mass protostars. Our aim is to construct a model that reproduces the observations quantitatively, to investigate the origin of the emission, and to use the lines as probes of the various heating mechanisms. Methods. The model consists of a spherical envelope with a bipolar outflow cavity. Three heating mechanisms are considered: passive heating by the protostellar luminosity, UV irradiation of the outflow cavity walls, and C-type shocks along the cavity walls. Line fluxes are calculated for CO and H2O and compared to Herschel data and complementary ground-based data for the protostars NGC1333 IRAS2A, HH 46 and DK Cha. The three sources are selected to span a range of evolutionary phases and physical characteristics. Results. The passively heated gas in the envelope accounts for 3-10% of the CO luminosity summed over all rotational lines up to J=40-39; it is best probed by low-J CO isotopologue lines such as C18O 2-1 and 3-2. The UV-heated gas and the C-type shocks, probed by 12CO 10-9 and higher-J lines, contribute 20-80% each. The model fits show a tentative evolutionary trend: the CO emission is dominated by shocks in the youngest source and by UV-heated gas in the oldest one. This trend is mainly driven by the lower envelope density in more evolved sources. The total H2O line luminosity in all cases is dominated by shocks (>99%). The exact percentages for both species are uncertain by at least a factor of 2 due to uncertainties in the gas temperature as function of the incident UV flux. However, on a qualitative level, both UV-heated gas and C-type shocks are needed to reproduce the emission in far-infrared rotational lines of CO and H2O.
(Abridged*) Models of the young solar nebula assume a hot initial disk with most volatiles are in the gas phase. The question remains whether an actively accreting disk is warm enough to have gas-phase water up to 50 AU radius. No detailed studies have yet been performed on the extent of snowlines in an embedded accreting disk (Stage 0). Quantify the location of gas-phase volatiles in embedded actively accreting disk system. Two-dimensional physical and radiative transfer models have been used to calculate the temperature structure of embedded protostellar systems. Gas and ice abundances of H$_2$O, CO$_2$, and CO are calculated using the density-dependent thermal desorption formulation. The midplane water snowline increases from 3 to 55 AU for accretion rates through the disk onto the star between $10^{-9}$-$10^{-4} M_{odot} {rm yr^{-1}}$. CO$_2$ can remain in the solid phase within the disk for $dot{M} leq 10^{-5} M_{odot} {rm yr^{-1}}$ down to $sim 20$ AU. Most of the CO is in the gas phase within an actively accreting disk independent of disk properties and accretion rate. The predicted optically thin water isotopolog emission is consistent with the detected H$_2^{18}$O emission toward the Stage 0 embedded young stellar objects, originating from both the disk and the warm inner envelope (hot core). An accreting embedded disk can only account for water emission arising from $R < 50$ AU, however, and the extent rapidly decreases for low accretion rates. Thus, the radial extent of the emission can be measured with ALMA observations and compared to this limit. Volatiles sublimate out to 50 AU in young disks and can reset the chemical content inherited from the envelope in periods of high accretion rates. A hot young solar nebula out to 30 AU can only have occurred during the deeply embedded Stage 0, not during the T-Tauri phase of our early solar system.
(Abridged) Protoplanetary disks are vital objects in star and planet formation, possessing all the material which may form a planetary system orbiting the new star. We investigate the synthesis of complex organic molecules (COMs) in disks to constrain the achievable chemical complexity and predict species and transitions which may be observable with ALMA. We have coupled a 2D model of a protoplanetary disk around a T Tauri star with a gas-grain chemical network including COMs. We compare compare synthesised line intensities and calculated column densities with observations and determine those COMs which may be observable in future. COMs are efficiently formed in the disk midplane via grain-surface chemical reactions, reaching peak grain-surface fractional abundances 1e-6 - 1e-4 that of the H nuclei number density. COMs formed on grain surfaces are returned to the gas phase via non-thermal desorption; however, gas-phase species reach lower fractional abundances than their grain-surface equivalents, 1e-12 - 1e-7. Including the irradiation of grain mantle material helps build further complexity in the ice through the replenishment of grain-surface radicals which take part in further grain-surface reactions. There is reasonable agreement with several line transitions of H2CO observed towards several T Tauri star-disk systems. The synthesised line intensities for CH3OH are consistent with upper limits determined towards all sources. Our models suggest CH3OH should be readily observable in nearby protoplanetary disks with ALMA; however, detection of more complex species may prove challenging. Our grain-surface abundances are consistent with those derived from cometary comae observations providing additional evidence for the hypothesis that comets (and other planetesimals) formed via the coagulation of icy grains in the Suns natal disk.
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