Phosphorus-bearing Molecules in Massive Dense Cores
Date Issued
2016
Author(s)
Abstract
Phosphorus is a crucial element for the development of life, but so far P-bearing molecules have been detected only in a few astrophysical objects; hence, its interstellar chemistry is almost totally unknown. Here, we show new detections of phosphorus nitride (PN) in a sample of dense cores in different evolutionary stages of the intermediate- and high-mass star formation process: starless, with protostellar objects, and with ultracompact H II regions. All detected PN line widths are smaller than ≃5 km s-1, and they arise from regions associated with kinetic temperatures smaller than 100 K. Because the few previous detections reported in the literature are associated with warmer and more turbulent sources, the results of this work show that PN can arise from relatively quiescent and cold gas. This information is challenging for theoretical models that invoke either high desorption temperatures or grain sputtering from shocks to release phosphorus into the gas phase. Derived column densities are of the order of 1011-12 cm-2, marginally lower than the values derived in the few high-mass star-forming regions detected so far. New constraints on the abundance of phosphorus monoxide, the fundamental unit of biologically relevant molecules, are also given.
Based on observations carried out with the IRAM-30 m Telescope. IRAM is supported by INSU/CNRS (France), MPG (Germany), and IGN (Spain).
Volume
822
Issue
2
Start page
L30
Issn Identifier
2041-8205
Ads BibCode
2016ApJ...822L..30F
Rights
open.access
File(s)![Thumbnail Image]()
Loading...
Name
Fontani_2016_ApJL_822_L30.pdf
Description
Pdf editoriale
Size
344.97 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
bc0058e1d917970757a35215c00c86a4