Discovery of the Linear Carbon Chain Molecules 13CCC and C13CC Towards SgrB2(M)
Event date
Speaker
Thomas Giesen
Affiliation
University of Kassel
Location
N/A
Event Type
Teletalk

For information on how to participate in the teletalks, please check the SOFIA Tele-Talk page .

It is believed that small carbon chain molecules such as linear CCC play a critical role in the formation of larger, complex molecules, including prebiotic species. The formation pathways of organic molecules with carbon chains as backbone are far from well understood. Studies on isotopic fractionation have proven to be a useful tool to understand chemical reaction pathways and to elucidate formation and destruction processes of interstellar molecules. Recent velocity-resolved observations in the Terahertz (THz) region have led to the detection of CCC ro-vibrational transitions in the warm envelopes of the star-forming hot cores W31C, W49N and DR21(OH). Several transitions of CCC in the far-infrared have also been detected towards the Galactic Center molecular clouds SgrB2(M) and Sgr B2(N). Since C+ is involved in an important step in the formation path of the CCC molecule, it is likely that effects of isotopic fractionation of C+ will also manifest themselves in the ratios CCC/13CCC and CCC/C13CC. Based on high-resolution Terahertz laboratory measurements of CCC and its 13C-isotopologues performed in the Kassel laboratories, we used the GREAT receiver on board SOFIA for a first-time detection of 13CCC and C13CC in the direction of SgrB2(M). In this talk I will present results and possible implications of the observations.

Speaker Materials
Audio file
Document