No Arabic abstract
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.
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%.
Torsion-rotation transitions in molecules exhibiting hindered internal rotation possess enhanced sensitivities to a variation of the proton-to-electron mass ratio. This enhancement occurs due to a cancellation of energies associated with the torsional and rotational degrees of freedom of the molecule. This effect occurs generally in every internal rotor molecule, but is exceptionally large in methanol. In this paper we calculate the sensitivity coefficients of methyl mercaptan, the thiol analogue of methanol. The obtained sensitivity coefficients in this molecule range from $K_mu=-14.8$ to $+12.2$ for transitions with a lower-level excitation energy below 10,cm$^{-1}$.
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.
Molecules in diffuse and translucent clouds experience cooling as a result of radiation and less excitation from collisions. However, a rotation around a molecular axis of acetonitrile, CH3CN, cannot be cooled by radiation, causing rotational populations to concentrate at the J = K levels. We aim to search for absorption lines of CH3CN having J = K level concentrations in diffuse and translucent clouds. The JK = 43-33 transition at 73.6 GHz was investigated toward Sgr B2(M) in the Galactic Center region and other sources, using the Nobeyama 45 m telescope. Based on the detected absorption lines toward Sgr B2(M), a radiation temperature of 2.8 +/- 0.5 K, kinetic temperature of 88 +/- 29 K, and column density of (1.35 +/- 0.14) x 10^14 cm-2 were derived for this molecule, revealing extremely concentrated J = K levels due to the lower excitation temperature and the higher kinetic temperature. The absorption lines occurred at a velocity of 64 km s-1. The results confirm that CH3CN with J = K level concentrations exists in the envelope of Sgr B2(M).