Complex molecules in galactic dust cores - biologically interesting molecules and dust chemistry

Liu, Sheng-Yuan

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/79019 Copy

Description

Title

Complex molecules in galactic dust cores - biologically interesting molecules and dust chemistry

Author(s)

Liu, Sheng-Yuan

Issue Date

1999-10

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Snyder, Lew

Department of Study

Astronomy

Discipline

Astronomy

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

Ph.D. (doctoral)

Degree Level

Dissertation

Keyword(s)

• Interstellar molecular studies
• Interstellar medium
• Organic molecules
• Radio astronomy

Language

en

Abstract

"The astronomical study of molecules has been an essential research field since the development of radio astronomy. Presently nearly 120 molecules have been identified in interstellar and circumstellar environments. The complexity of molecular species, and particularly organic molecules, that can be synthesized in the interstellar medium (ISM) leads to one interesting and important subfield in interstellar molecular studies, namely, the search and study for molecules of possible biological interest. Observationally, complex and most saturated molecules are observed exclusively toward compact hot, dense regions, often called ""hot cores"", in molecular clouds. To account for the observed amount of saturated organic molecules, interstellar dust particles play an important role. It has often been suggested that solid state reactions on grain surfaces provide an efficient way to synthesis saturated organic molecules. The objective of this study is to obtain observational data on biologically interesting molecules and to study important complex interstellar molecules. Since hot molecular cores are inherently compact, interferometric observations are therefore an ideal approach to study these sources. All our observations were all made with the Berkeley-Illinois-MarylandAssociation (BIMA) Array"

Type of Resource

text

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http://hdl.handle.net/2142/79019

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