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Published October 20, 2012 | Published + Submitted
Journal Article Open

Interstellar Carbodiimide (HNCNH): A New Astronomical Detection from the GBT PRIMOS Survey via Maser Emission Features

Abstract

In this work, we identify carbodiimide (HNCNH), which is an isomer of the well-known interstellar species cyanamide (NH_(2)CN), in weak maser emission, using data from the Green Bank Telescope PRIMOS survey toward Sgr B2(N). All spectral lines observed are in emission and have energy levels in excess of 170 K, indicating that the molecule likely resides in relatively hot gas that characterizes the denser regions of this star-forming region. The anticipated abundance of this molecule from ice mantle experiments is ~10% of the abundance of NH_(2)CN, which in Sgr B2(N) corresponds to ~2 × 10^(13) cm^(–2). Such an abundance results in transition intensities well below the detection limit of any current astronomical facility and, as such, HNCNH could only be detected by those transitions which are amplified by masing.

Additional Information

© 2012 American Astronomical Society. Received 2012 August 9; accepted 2012 September 7; published 2012 October 1. All authors dedicate this work to Lewis E. Snyder who pioneered the astronomical detection of molecules at radio frequencies. B.A.M. gratefully acknowledges funding by an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, and M. Emprechtinger for helpful discussions regarding masers.We thank the anonymous referee for very helpful comments. The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a facility of the National Science Foundation operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc.

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Published - 2041-8205_758_2_L33.pdf

Submitted - 1209.1590v1.pdf

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August 22, 2023
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