University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Tracing the history of table salt

Singh, Ambesh Pratik

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4628.pdf

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/107547

Description

Title
Tracing the history of table salt
Author(s)
Singh, Ambesh Pratik
Contributor(s)
  • Ziurys, Lucy M.
  • Bernal, Jacob
Issue Date
2020-06-24
Keyword(s)
Astronomy
Date of Ingest
2020-06-26T03:04:36Z
Abstract
Sodium chloride, NaCl, is an essential molecule for life. Its presence in circumstellar envelopes of evolved stars, protoplanetary disks, and asteroids is highly surprising. Furthermore, it has two abundant isotopologues, Na$^{35}$Cl and Na$^{37}$Cl, and the chlorine isotopic ratio can be used to trace its chemical history. NaCl has been a known constituent of both the carbon star IRC+10216 and the oxygen-rich supergiant VY CMa, as was evident in a previous ARO 1 mm spectral survey of these objects. Recently, we have also detected this molecule in the supergiant NML Cygnus. Using the radiative transport code ESCAPADE, we have modeled multiple transitions of both Na$^{35}$Cl and Na$^{37}$Cl detected in the envelopes of IRC+10216, VY CMa, and NML Cyg. Surprisingly, the abundance of NaCl is similar in all three envelopes, with a fractional abundance of ~10$^{-9}$ relative to H$_2$, with a $^{35}$Cl/$^{37}$Cl of approximately 3/1. The implications of these results will be discussed.
Publisher
International Symposium on Molecular Spectroscopy
Type of Resource
Text
Genre of Resource
Conference Paper / Presentation
Language
eng
Permalink
http://hdl.handle.net/2142/107547
Copyright and License Information
Copyright 2020 is held by the Author(s)

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Abstracts & Presentations - 2020 International Symposium on Molecular Spectroscopy PRIMARY