Surface Formation Routes of Interstellar Molecules

Details Surface Formation Routes of Interstellar Molecules Surface Formation Routes of Interstellar Molecules

May 2011

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2011iaus..280p.204i&link_type=abstract

The Molecular Universe, Posters from the proceedings of the 280th Symposium of the International Astronomical Union held in Tole

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

Scientific paper

Observations show that H2O, CO, CO2, and in some cases CH3OH represent the bulk of solid-state species in dense molecular clouds and star-forming regions. It has been a long standing problem in astrochemistry to explain how these molecules can form in the interstellar medium. Apart for the case of CO, gas-phase formation rates are not efficient enough at low temperatures (10 K) to explain the observed abundances in such environments. Therefore, those species most likely form in the solid phase and several gas-grain astrochemical reaction schemes have been proposed, largely based on chemical intuition and analogues. It took several decades before experimental techniques actually allowed to put all these reactions to the test. More recently, systematic bottom-up approaches have been used with the intent to investigate isolated surface reaction routes under fully controlled laboratory conditions, starting from the hydrogenation of simple and generally pure ices. The focus is on the determination of fundamental and molecule specific parameters,reaction rates and diffusion barriers, for different conditions which can then be included in astrochemical models to simulate the ice evolution under much longer timescales (105 yr) than possible in the laboratory. This poster summarizes the ongoing work performed in the Sackler Laboratory for Astrophysics on CH3OH, H2O, and CO2 ice formation. Starting from the hydrogenation of solid CO ice, O2 and O3 ices, and CO:O2 ice mixtures under ultra high vacuum (UHV) conditions, we give experimental evidence for, respectively, CH3OH, H2O, and CO2 ice formation by means of Reflection Absorption InfraRed Spectroscopy (RAIRS) for astronomically relevant temperatures. The astrophysical consequences are discussed.

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