| Issue |
A&A
Volume 412, Number 2, December III 2003
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Page(s) | L15 - L18 | |
| Section | Letters | |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361:20031649 | |
| Published online | 28 November 2003 | |
Letter to the Editor
Interstellar SiN
1
Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie, Auf dem Hügel 69, 53121 Bonn, Germany e-mail: [schilke,sleurini,kmenten]@mpifr-bonn.mpg.de
2
Observatorio Astronómico Nacional, C/Alfonso XII, 3, 28014 Madrid, Spain e-mail: j.alcolea@oan.es
Corresponding author: P. Schilke, schilke@mpifr-bonn.mpg.de
Received:
29
July
2003
Accepted:
23
October
2003
We report the detection of the silicon nitride (SiN) 
–1,
–3/2 transition toward SgrB2(M), in absorption.
Although it has been seen in a circumstellar envelope before,
this is the first time this molecule has been detected in
interstellar space. We estimate a column density of 
cm-2, which is a factor of 20-50 lower than that of
silicon monoxide (SiO) toward this source. It is likely that
this molecule, like SiO and FeO, is created by gas-phase
chemistry after refractory elements, previously locked up in
grain cores, have been released by sputtering in shocks.
Key words: astrochemistry / line: identification / ISM: abundances / ISM: molecules / ISM: individual objects: SgrB2(M) / radio lines: ISM
© ESO, 2003
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