Complex organic molecules detected in twelve high mass star forming regions with ALMA

  • Baek, Giseon (School of Space Research, Kyung Hee University) ;
  • Lee, Jeong-Eun (School of Space Research, Kyung Hee University) ;
  • Hirota, Tomoya (Department of Astronomical Sciences, SOKENDAI (The Graduate University for Advanced Studies)) ;
  • Kim, Kee-Tae (Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute)
  • 발행 : 2021.10.13

초록

One of the key questions on star formation is how the organic molecules are synthesized and delivered to the planets and comets since they are the building blocks of prebiotic molecules such as amino acid, which is thought to contribute to bringing life on Earth. Recent astrochemical models and experiments have explained that complex organic molecules (COMs; molecules composed of six or more atoms) are produced on the dust grain mantles in cold and dense gas in prestellar cores. However, the chemical networks and the roles of physical conditions on chemistry are not still understood well. To address this question, hot (> 100 K) cores in high mass young stellar objects (M > 8 Msun) are great laboratories due to their strong emissions and larger samples than those of low-mass counterparts. In addition, CH3OH masers, which have been mostly found in high mass star forming regions, can provide constraints due to their very unique emerging mechanisms. We investigate twelve high mass star forming regions in ALMA band 6 observation. They are associated with 44/95 GHz Class I and 6.7 GHz Class II CH3OH masers, implying that the active accretion processes are ongoing. For these previously unresolved regions, 66 continuum peaks are detected. Among them, we found 28 cores emitting COMs and specified 10 cores associated with 6.7 GHz Class II CH3OH masers. The chemical diversity of COMs is found in cores in terms of richness and complexity; we identified up to 19 COMs including oxygen- and nitrogen-bearing molecules and their isotopologues in a core. Oxygen-bearing molecules appear to be abundant and more complex than nitrogen-bearing species. On the other hand, the COMs detection rate steeply grows with the gas column density, which can be attributed to the effective COMs formation in dense cores.

키워드