Complex organic chemistry in the interstellar medium [...] (Belloche et al.)

Vol. 559
In section 6. Interstellar and circumstellar matter

Complex organic chemistry in the interstellar medium: IRAM 30 m line survey of Sagittarius B2(N) and (M)

Spectral line surveys of protostellar envelopes are a guide to understanding the formation of complex molecules in the early evolutionary phases of the solar system. Perhaps most useful in this regard have been the "hot core" regions associated with the massive Galactic center cloud Sgr B2. The 3mm survey of SgrB2-M and N by Belloche et al. is important in its own right, but also because of the impetus it will give to analogous surveys both with the Herschel satellite and with ALMA. Three new molecules were found in this survey, as well as 5 rare isotopologues. Perhaps more fundamental for understanding the physical conditions is that the authors report the detection of 14 new vibrationally excited states of already known molecules.