No Arabic abstract
Methyl mercaptan (CH$_3$SH) is an important sulfur-bearing species in the interstellar medium, terrestrial environment, and potentially in planetary atmospheres. The aim of the present study is to provide accurate spectroscopic parameters for the most abundant minor isotopolog CH$_3$$^{34}$SH to support radio astronomical observations at millimeter and submillimeter wavelengths. The rotational spectrum of CH$_3$$^{34}$SH, which is complicated by the large-amplitude internal rotation of the CH$_3$ group versus the $^{34}$SH frame, was investigated in the 49$-$510 GHz and 1.1$-$1.5 THz frequency ranges in natural isotopic abundance. The analysis of the spectrum was performed up to the second excited torsional state, and the obtained data were modeled with the RAM36 program. A fit within experimental accuracy was obtained with a RAM Hamiltonian model that uses 72 parameters. Predictions based on this fit are used to search for CH$_3$$^{34}$SH with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) toward the hot molecular core Sgr B2(N2), but blends with emission lines of other species prevent its firm identification in this source.
Methyl mercaptan (also known as methanethiol), CH3SH, has been found in the warm and dense parts of high -- as well as low -- mass star-forming regions. The aim of the present study is to obtain accurate spectroscopic parameters of the S-deuterated methyl mercaptan CH$_3$SD to facilitate astronomical observations by radio telescope arrays at (sub)millimeter wavelengths. We have measured the rotational spectrum associated with the large-amplitude internal rotation of the methyl group of methyl mercaptan using an isotopically enriched sample in the 150-510 GHz frequency range using the Koln millimeter wave spectrometer. The analysis of the spectra has been performed up to the second excited torsional state. We present modeling results of these data with the RAM36 program. CH$_3$SD was searched for, but not detected, in data from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) Protostellar Interferometric Line Survey (PILS) of the deeply embedded protostar IRAS 16293-2422. The derived upper limit corresponds to a degree of deuteration of at most ~18%.
The dramatic increase in sensitivity, spectral coverage and resolution of radio astronomical facilities in recent years has opened new possibilities for observation of chemical differentiation and isotopic fractionation in protostellar sources to shed light on their spatial and temporal evolution. In warm interstellar environments, methanol is an abundant species, hence spectral data for its isotopic forms are of special interest. In the present work, the millimeter-wave spectrum of the $^{13}$CH$_3$OD isotopologue has been investigated over the region from 150$-$510 GHz to provide a set of transition frequencies for potential astronomical application. The focus is on two types of prominent $^{13}$CH$_3$OD spectral groupings, namely the $a$-type $^qR$-branch multiplets and the $b$-type $Q$-branches. Line positions are reported for the $^qR(J)$ clusters for $J = 3$ to 10 for the $v_{rm t} = 0$ and 1 torsional states, and for a number of $v_{rm t} = 0$ and 1 $^rQ(J)$ or $^pQ(J)$ line series up to $J = 25$. The frequencies have been fitted to a multi-parameter torsion-rotation Hamiltonian, and upper level excitation energies have been calculated from the resulting molecular constants.
Methyl mercaptan (CH3SH) is a known interstellar molecule with abundances high enough that the detection of some of its minor isotopologues is promising. The present study aims at providing accurate spectroscopic parameters for the (13)CH3SH isotopologue to facilitate its identification in the interstellar medium at millimetre and submillimetre wavelengths. Through careful analysis of recent CH3SH spectra from 49-510 GHz and 1.1-1.5 THz recorded at natural isotopic composition, extensive assignments were possible not only for the ground torsional state of (13)CH3SH, but also in the first and second excited states. The torsion-rotation spectrum displays complex structure due to the large-amplitude internal rotation of the (13)CH3 group, similar to the main and other minor isotopic species of methyl mercaptan. The assigned transition frequencies have been fitted to within experimental error with a 52-parameter model employing the RAM36 programme. With predictions based on this fit, (13)CH3SH was searched for in spectra from the Atacama Large Millimetre/submillimetre Array (ALMA) towards the Galactic centre source Sgr B2(N2). Several transitions were expected to be observable, but all of them turned out to be severely blended with emission from other species, which prevents us from identifying (13)CH3SH in this source.
We have extended the pure rotational investigation of the two isomers syn and anti vinyl mercaptan to the millimeter domain using a frequency-multiplication spectrometer. The species were produced by a radiofrequency discharge in 1,2-ethanedithiol. Additional transitions have been re-measured in the centimeter band using Fourier-transform microwave spectroscopy to better determine rest frequencies of transitions with low-$J$ and low-$K_a$ values. Experimental investigations were supported by quantum chemical calculations on the energetics of both the [C$_2$,H$_4$,S] and [C$_2$,H$_4$,O] isomeric families. Interstellar searches for both syn and anti vinyl mercaptan as well as vinyl alcohol were performed in the EMoCA (Exploring Molecular Complexity with ALMA) spectral line survey carried out toward Sagittarius (Sgr) B2(N2) with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). Highly accurate experimental frequencies (to better than 100 kHz accuracy) for both syn and anti isomers of vinyl mercaptan have been measured up to 250 GHz; these deviate considerably from predictions based on extrapolation of previous microwave measurements. Reliable frequency predictions of the astronomically most interesting millimeter-wave lines for these two species can now be derived from the best-fit spectroscopic constants. From the energetic investigations, the four lowest singlet isomers of the [C$_2$,H$_4$,S] family are calculated to be nearly isoenergetic, which makes this family a fairly unique test bed for assessing possible reaction pathways. Upper limits for the column density of syn and anti vinyl mercaptan are derived toward the extremely molecule-rich star-forming region Sgr B2(N2) enabling comparison with selected complex organic molecules.
We present the first radio/submillimeter detection of monodeuterated methane (CH$_3$D) in Titans atmosphere, using archival data from of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). The $J_K=2_1-1_1$ and $J_K=2_0-1_0$ transitions at 465.235 and 465.250 GHz ($sim0.644$ mm) were measured at significance levels of $4.6sigma$ and $5.7sigma$, respectively. These two lines were modeled using the Non-linear optimal Estimator for MultivariatE spectral analySIS (NEMESIS) radiative transfer code to determine the disk-averaged CH$_3$D volume mixing ratio = $6.157times10^{-6}$ in Titans stratosphere (at altitudes $gt130$ km). By comparison with the CH$_4$ vertical abundance profile measured by Cassini-Huygens mass spectrometry, the resulting value for D/H in CH$_4$ is $(1.033pm0.081)times10^{-4}$. This is consistent with previous ground-based and in-situ measurements from the Cassini-Huygens mission, though slightly lower than the average of the previous values. Additional CH$_3$D observations at higher spatial resolution will be required to determine a value truly comparable with the Cassini-Huygens CH$_4$ measurements, by measuring CH$_3$D with ALMA close to Titans equator. In the post-Cassini era, spatially resolved observations of CH$_3$D with ALMA will enable the latitudinal distribution of methane to be determined, making this an important molecule for further studies.