Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-j824f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-13T12:13:48.779Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Organic molecules in protostellar environments

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 2008

Cecilia Ceccarelli*
Affiliation:
Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Grenoble, Université Joseph Fourier, UMR 5571-CNRS, France email: Cecilia.Ceccarelli@obs.ujf-grenoble.fr
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

The sequence that brings matter from a molecular cloud to a fully developed star plus planetary system seems to be a unique and rich chemistry laboratory where, step by step, molecular complexity increases. During the cold pre-collapse phase, atoms and simple molecules, like CO, freeze out onto the dust grains, forming icy mantles. Reactions on the grain surfaces likely form hydrogenated molecules (notably H2O, CH4, H2CO, CH3OH, and NH3) and perhaps even more complex organic molecules. The hallmark of this era is the super-deuteration phenomenon, i. e. the abnormal enhancement of molecules containing one or more D atoms instead of H atoms, by up to 13 orders of magnitude with respect to the cosmic elemental D/H ratio (~10−5). The frozen molecules are released into the gas upon warming by the forming star and undergo reactions which further increase the molecular complexity, leading to several complex organic molecules. Products of this efficient chemical factory are observed in the hot corinos, which are warm (~100 K), dense (~107–108 cm−3) solar-system-sized regions at the centre of the collapsing envelopes of solar type protostars. In this contribution, I review what is known about the organic molecules in protostellar environments, with emphasis on the hot corinos, and how possibly the organic molecules formed at this stage may constitute an heritage for the forming planetary system.

Type
Contributed Papers
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2008

References

Agundez, M., Cernicharo, J., & Goicoechea, J. R. 2008, A&A, 483, 831Google Scholar
Bacmann, A., Lefloch, B., Ceccarelli, C., et al. 2003, ApJ (Letters), 585, L55CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ballesteros-Paredes, J., Klessen, R. S., Mac Low, M.-M., & Vazquez-Semadeni, E. 2007, in: Reipurth, B., Jewitt, D., & Keil, K. (eds.), Protostars and Planets V, p. 63Google Scholar
Bisschop, S. E., Jørgensen, J. K., van Dishoeck, E. F., & de Wachter, E. B. M. 2007, A&A, 465, 913Google Scholar
Blake, G. A., van Dishoek, E. F., Jansen, D. J., Groesbeck, T. D., & Mundy, L. G. 1994, ApJ, 428, 680CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bottinelli, S., Ceccarelli, C., Lefloch, B., et al. 2004a, ApJ, 615, 354CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bottinelli, S., Ceccarelli, C., Neri, R., et al. 2004b, ApJ (Letters) 617, L69CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bottinelli, S., Ceccarelli, C., Neri, R., & Williams, J. P. 2008, ApJ (Letters), acceptedGoogle Scholar
Bottinelli, S., Ceccarelli, C., Williams, J. P., & Lefloch, B. 2007, A&A, 463, 601Google Scholar
Brittain, S. D., Simon, T., Najita, J. R., & Rettig, T. W. 2007, ApJ, 659, 685Google Scholar
Butner, H. M., Charnley, S. B., Ceccarelli, C., et al. 2007, ApJ (Letters), 659, L137CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Caselli, P., van der Tak, F. F. S., Ceccarelli, C., & Bacmann, A. 2003, A&A (Letters), 403, L37Google Scholar
Cazaux, S., Tielens, A. G. G. M., Ceccarelli, C., et al. 2003, ApJ (Letters), 593, L51CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ceccarelli, C. 2004, in Astronomical Society of the Pacific Conference Series, p. 195Google Scholar
Ceccarelli, C., Caselli, P., Herbst, E., Tielens, A. G. G. M., & Caux, E. 2007, in: Reipurth, B., Jewitt, D., & Keil, K. (eds.), Protostars and Planets V, p. 47Google Scholar
Ceccarelli, C., Castets, A., Caux, E., et al. 2000, A&A, 355, 1129Google Scholar
Ceccarelli, C., Castets, A., Loinard, L., Caux, E., & Tielens, A. G. G. M. 1998, A&A (Letters), 338, L43Google Scholar
Ceccarelli, C., Hollenbach, D. J., & Tielens, A. G. G. M. 1996, ApJ, 471, 400Google Scholar
Chandler, C. J., Brogan, C. L., Shirley, Y. L., & Loinard, L. 2005, ApJ, 632, 371CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Comito, C., Schilke, P., Phillips, T. G., et al. 2005, ApJS, 156, 127Google Scholar
Crapsi, A., Caselli, P., Walmsley, C. M., et al. 2005, ApJ, 619, 379CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dullemond, C. P., Hollenbach, D., Kamp, I., & D'Alessio, P. 2007, in: Reipurth, B., Jewitt, D., & Keil, K. (eds.), Protostars and Planets V, p. 555Google Scholar
Garrod, R. T. & Herbst, E. 2006, A&A, 457, 927Google Scholar
Garrod, R. T., Widicus Weaver, S. L., & Herbst, E. 2008, ArXiv e-prints, 803Google Scholar
Helmich, F. P. & van Dishoeck, E. F. 1997, A&AS, 124, 205Google Scholar
Jørgensen, J. K., Bourke, T. L., Myers, P. C., et al. 2005, ApJ, 632, 973CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kuan, Y.-J., Huang, H.-C., Charnley, S. B., et al. 2004, ApJ (Letters), 616, L27CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lahuis, F., van Dishoeck, E. F., Boogert, A. C. A., et al. 2006, ApJ (Letters), 636, L145CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Millar, T. J., Herbst, E., & Charnley, S. B. 1991, ApJ, 369, 147CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parise, B., Castets, A., Herbst, E., et al. 2004, A&A, 416, 159Google Scholar
Parise, B., Ceccarelli, C., Tielens, A. G. G. M., et al. 2006, A&A, 453, 949Google Scholar
Parise, B., Ceccarelli, C., Tielens, A. G. G. M., et al. 2002, A&A (Letters), 393, L49Google Scholar
Remijan, A. J. & Hollis, J. M. 2006, ApJ, 640, 842CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Requena-Torres, M. A., Marcelino, N., Jiménez-Serra, I., et al. 2007, ApJ (Letters), 655, L37CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Requena-Torres, M. A., Martín-Pintado, J., Rodríguez-Franco, A., et al. 2006, A&A, 455, 971Google Scholar
Roberts, H., Herbst, E., & Millar, T. J. 2003, ApJ (Letters), 591, L41Google Scholar
Sakai, N., Sakai, T., & Yamamoto, S. 2006, PASJ (Letters), 58, L15CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Snyder, L. E., Lovas, F. J., Hollis, J. M., et al. 2005, ApJ, 619, 914CrossRefGoogle Scholar
van Dishoeck, E. F., Blake, G. A., Jansen, D. J., & Groesbeck, T. D. 1995, ApJ, 447, 760Google Scholar
Ward-Thompson, D., André, P., Crutcher, R., Johnstone, D., Onishi, T., & Wilson, C. 2007, in: Reipurth, B., Jewitt, D., & Keil, K. (eds.), Protostars and Planets V, 33Google Scholar