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Boundary conditions for the paleoenvironment: chemical and physical processes in the pre-solar nebula (Document No: 19940010948)
| Content Provider | NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS) |
|---|---|
| Author | Schloerb, F. Peter Irvine, William M. |
| Copyright Year | 1993 |
| Description | In observations with the NRAO 12m telescope at Kitt Peak, Arizona, Irvine, a new interstellar radical, CH2N, has been detected. This identification is important for the study of hydrogenation processes in the interstellar medium. In particular, although the abundance of hydrogen is some four orders of magnitude higher than that of other reactive elements in this environment, many organic molecules in quiescent clouds are very unsaturated. This is a consequence of activation barriers which cannot be overcome at the temperatures of cold clouds, even when such reactions are energetically allowed. The hydrogenation series based on the cyanide radical (HnCN) has had four members previously detected in the interstellar medium: CN (n equals O), HCN (n equals l), CH2CN (n equals 3), and CH3NH2 (n equals 5). The recent determination of the rotational spectrum of the CH2N radical through microwave spectroscopy in Japan has made possible a search for this species. In addition to its potential importance for interstellar chemistry, the CH2N radical has been proposed as a reaction intermediate for HCN production in the atmosphere of Jupiter, and as a possible species in the expanding envelopes of oxygen--rich evolved stars. We detected CH2N in the cold cloud TMC--1 where the abundance seems to be some three orders of magnitude lower than that of HCN. A tentative detection was made in the Galactic Center molecular cloud Sgr B2. To our knowledge, there are no predicted abundances of CH2N from models of interstellar chemistry. |
| File Size | 287586 |
| Page Count | 6 |
| File Format | |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | http://archive.org/details/NASA_NTRS_Archive_19940010948 |
| Archival Resource Key | ark:/13960/t1xd5t58h |
| Language | English |
| Publisher Date | 1993-01-01 |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Subject Keyword | Solar Physics Hydrocyanic Acid Interstellar Chemistry Hydrogen Molecular Clouds Astronomical Models Jupiter Atmosphere Boundary Conditions Cyanides Microwave Spectra Hydrogenation Nebulae Interstellar Matter Ntrs Nasa Technical Reports Server (ntrs) Nasa Technical Reports Server Aerodynamics Aircraft Aerospace Engineering Aerospace Aeronautic Space Science |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Technical Report |
