Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics – Cosmology and Extragalactic Astrophysics
Scientific paper
2010-11-02
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
Cosmology and Extragalactic Astrophysics
To appear in Spectroscopy of Molecular Ions in the Laboratory and in Space (SMILES 2010), AIP Conference Proceedings, in press
Scientific paper
The astrochemistry of the HnO+ (n=1..3) ions is important as the main gas-phase formation route for water, and as tracer of the interstellar ionization rate by cosmic rays and other processes. While interstellar H3O+ has been known since the early 1990's, interstellar OH+ and H2O+ have only recently been detected using the Herschel space observatory and also from the ground. This paper reviews detections of HnO+ toward external galaxies and compares with ground-based work. The similarities and differences of the HnO+ chemistry within the Galaxy and beyond are discussed. Special attention is given to the low H2O/H3O+ ratio in M82 of only 3.3, suggesting rapid H2O photodissociation, and the high apparent OH+ and H2O+ abundances in Mrk 231, suggesting radiative excitation and/or formation pumping. Photodissociation rates for H3O+ and collisional cross-sections for OH+ and H2O+ with H, He and electrons are needed to test these interpretations.
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