Individual Detections Of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons In Tmc-1

Burkhardt, Andrew M.

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/111213 Copy

Description

Title

Individual Detections Of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons In Tmc-1

Author(s)

Burkhardt, Andrew M.

Contributor(s)

• McGuire, Brett A.
• McCarthy, Michael C.
• Herbst, Eric
• Charnley, Steven B
• Wei, Hongji
• Loomis, Ryan A
• Cooke, Ilsa Rose
• Shingledecker, Christopher N.
• Changala, Bryan
• Lee, Kelvin

Issue Date

2021-06-22

Keyword(s)

Astronomy

Abstract

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) have long been invoked in the study of interstellar and protostellar sources, but the unambiguous identification of any single PAH has proven elusive until very recently. As a result, the formation mechanism for this important class of molecules remains poorly constrained. Here, we will discuss the dedicated and sustained effort to explore the aromatic content in the ISM at radio wavelengths with the GOTHAM (GBT Observations of TMC-1: Hunting for Aromatic Molecules) survey. We will focus on the first interstellar detection of a pure PAH, indene (\chem{C_9H_8}), and how it fits within the context of the other recently detected cyclic molecules, including the cyanonaphthalenes (1- and 2-\chem{C_{10}H_7CN}). Indene is found to be the most abundant organic ring detected in TMC-1 to date and is more abundant than predictions from astrochemical modeling with NAUTILUS by several orders of magnitude. This detection provides a new avenue of chemical inquiry where hydrocarbon abundances can now be directly compared to those of closely-related but CN-functionalized rings and creates a strong motivation to search for these species' cyano or pure ring counterparts.

Publisher

International Symposium on Molecular Spectroscopy

Type of Resource

Text

Language

eng

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/111213

DOI

10.15278/isms.2021.TJ04

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