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http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12386/30476
Title: | The First Detections of the Key Prebiotic Molecule PO in Star-forming Regions | Authors: | Rivilla, V. M. FONTANI, FRANCESCO BELTRAN SOROLLA, MARIA TERESA Vasyunin, A. Caselli, P. Martín-Pintado, J. CESARONI, Riccardo |
Issue Date: | 2016 | Journal: | THE ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL | Number: | 826 | Issue: | 2 | First Page: | 161 | Abstract: | Phosphorus is a crucial element in biochemistry, in particular the P-O bond, which is key in the formation of the backbone of deoxyribonucleic acid. So far, PO has only been detected toward the envelope of evolved stars, but never toward star-forming regions. We report the first detection of PO toward two massive star-forming regions, W51 e1/e2 and W3(OH), using data from the IRAM 30 m telescope. PN has also been detected toward the two regions. The abundance ratio PO/PN is 1.8 and 3 for W51 and W3(OH), respectively. Our chemical model indicates that the two molecules are chemically related and are formed via gas-phase ion-molecule and neutral-neutral reactions during cold collapse. The molecules freeze out onto grains at the end of the collapse and desorb during the warm-up phase once the temperature reaches ∼35 K. Similar abundances of the two species are expected during a period of ∼5 × 10<SUP>4</SUP> yr at the early stages of the warm-up phase, when the temperature is in the range 35-90 K. The observed molecular abundances of 10<SUP>-10</SUP> are predicted by the model if a relatively high initial abundance of 5 × 10<SUP>-9</SUP> of depleted phosphorus is assumed. | URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12386/30476 | URL: | https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/0004-637X/826/2/161 | ISSN: | 0004-637X | DOI: | 10.3847/0004-637X/826/2/161 | Bibcode ADS: | 2016ApJ...826..161R | Fulltext: | open |
Appears in Collections: | 1.01 Articoli in rivista |
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rivilla_2016_ApJ_826_161.pdf | Pdf editoriale | 1.02 MB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
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