SOLIS

XIII. Nitrogen fractionation towards the protocluster OMC-2 FIR4^★,★★

¹ IRAP, Université de Toulouse, 9 avenue du colonel Roche, 31028 Toulouse Cedex 4, France
e-mail: levans@irap.omp.eu
² INAF, Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri, Largo E. Fermi 5, 50125 Firenze, Italy
³ Univ. Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, Institut de Planetologie et d’Astrophysique de Grenoble (IPAG), 38000 Grenoble, France
⁴ Max-Planck-Institut für extraterrestrische Physik (MPE), Giessenbachstrasse 1, 85748 Garching, Germany
⁵ Institut de Radioastronomie Millimetrique (IRAM), 300 rue de la Piscine, Domaine Universitaire de Grenoble, 38406 Saint-Martin d’Hères, France
⁶ Ecole doctorale de Physique, Université Grenoble Alpes, 110 rue de la Chimie, 38400 Saint-Martin-d’Hères, France

Received: 3 September 2021
Accepted: 15 October 2021

Abstract

Context. Isotopic fractionation is an important tool for investigating the chemical history of our Solar System. In particular, the isotopic fraction of nitrogen (¹⁴N/¹⁵N) is lower in comets and other pristine Solar System bodies with respect to the value measured for the protosolar nebula, suggesting a local chemical enrichment of ¹⁵N during the formation of the Solar System. Therefore, interferometric studies of nitrogen fractionation in Solar System precursors are needed for us to obtain clues about our astrochemical origins.

Aims. In this work we have investigated the variation in the ¹⁴N/¹⁵N ratio in one of the closest analogues of the environment in which the Solar System was born: the protocluster OMC-2 FIR4. We present the first comparison at high angular resolution between HCN and N₂H⁺ using interferometric data.

Methods. We analysed observations of the HCN isotopologues H¹³CN and HC¹⁵N in the OMC-2 FIR4 protocluster. Specifically, we observed the transitions H¹³CN (1−0) and HC¹⁵N (1−0) with the NOrthern Extended Millimeter Array (NOEMA) within the context of the IRAM Seeds Of Life In Space (SOLIS) Large Program. We combined our results with analysis of archival data obtained with the Atacama Large Millimeter Array of N₂H⁺ and its ¹⁵N isotopologues.

Results. Our results show a small regional variation in the ¹⁴N/¹⁵N ratio for HCN, from ~250 to 500. The ratios in the central regions of FIR4, where the candidate protostars are located, are largely consistent with one another and within that range (~300). They also show little variation from the part of the protocluster known to harbour a high cosmic-ray ionisation rate to the portion with a lower rate. We also found a small variation in the ¹⁴N/¹⁵N ratio of N₂H⁺ across different regions, from ~200 to ~400.

Conclusions. These results suggest that local changes in the physical parameters occurring on the small linear scales probed by our observations in the protocluster do not seem to affect the ¹⁴N/¹⁵N ratio in either HCN or N₂H⁺ and hence that this is independent of the molecule used. Moreover, the high level of irradiation due to cosmic rays does not affect the N fractionation either.