Volume 245, 2023

New interstellar laboratories in the molecular ring

Abstract

Much of what is known about chemistry in star-forming regions comes from observations of nearby (d < 500 pc) low-mass protostars. For chemistry in high-mass star-forming regions, several more distant (d ∼ 2–8 kpc), exceptionally bright molecular sources have also been the subjects of repeated observations but with concomitantly poorer linear spatial resolution. Facilities such as ALMA and JWST, however, now provide the means for observing distant sources at dramatically higher spatial resolution and sensitivity. We used the modest resolving power of the Atacama Compact Array, a dedicated subset of ALMA antennas, to carry out a pilot survey of 11 giant molecular clouds selected from the Bolocam Galactic Plane Survey [Battisti & Heyer, Astrophys. J., 2014, 780, 173] within the so-called molecular ring between about 4 and 8 kpc from the galactic center. Within our observed sample, molecular emission regions—most of which correspond to at least one (candidate) young stellar object—exhibit a range of chemical complexity and diversity. Furthermore, nine target giant molecular clouds contain well-fit methanol emission, giving us a first look at the spatial chemical variability within the objects at relatively high (compared to past observations) resolutions of ∼5′′. This work lays the foundation for future high angular resolution studies of gas-phase chemistry with the full ALMA.

Graphical abstract: New interstellar laboratories in the molecular ring

Associated articles

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
09 janv. 2023
Accepted
06 févr. 2023
First published
06 févr. 2023

Faraday Discuss., 2023,245, 138-163

Author version available

New interstellar laboratories in the molecular ring

O. H. Wilkins and G. A. Blake, Faraday Discuss., 2023, 245, 138 DOI: 10.1039/D3FD00003F

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements