Complex Molecules in the Hot Core of the Low-Mass Protostar NGC 1333 IRAS 4A

By S. Bottinelli, C. Ceccarelli, Bertrand Lefloch, Jonathan P. Williams, A. Castets, E. Caux, S. Cazaux, S. Maret, B. Parise, A. F. L. D. D. Grenoble and 6 more. 2004

184 citations recorded by the source corpus.

We report the detection of complex molecules (HCOOCH3, HCOOH, and CH3CN), signposts of a hot core-like region, toward the low-mass Class 0 source NGC 1333 IRAS 4A. This is the second low-mass protostar in which such complex molecules have been searched for and reported, the other source being IRAS 16293-2422. It is therefore likely that compact (a few tens of AU) regions of dense and warm gas, where the chemistry is dominated by the evaporation of grain mantles and where complex molecules are found, are common in low-mass Class 0 sources. Given that the chemical formation timescale is much shorter than the gas hot-core crossing time, it is not clear whether the reported complex molecules are formed on the grain surfaces (first-generation molecules) or in the warm gas by reactions involving the evaporated mantle constituents (second-generation molecules). We do not find evidence for large differences in the molecular abundances, normalized to the formaldehyde abundance, between the two solar-type protostars, suggesting perhaps a common origin.

Subfields: Astronomy and Astrophysics, Atmospheric Science, Spectroscopy

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/cdaaccd8c6042ee6780064587861e12e04d00379

How researchers see this paper

The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.

In Astronomy and Astrophysics

1. P. Caselli
2. R. Garrod
3. Cecilia Ceccarelli
4. E. Herbst
5. E. Dishoeck
6. K. Oberg
7. A. Tielens
8. E. Bergin

In Atmospheric Science

1. R. Garrod
2. P. Caselli
3. E. Dishoeck
4. Cecilia Ceccarelli
5. E. Herbst
6. A. Tielens
7. V. Wakelam
8. H. Cuppen

In Spectroscopy

1. P. Caselli
2. Cecilia Ceccarelli
3. R. Garrod
4. E. Dishoeck
5. E. Herbst
6. K. Oberg
7. E. Bergin
8. V. Wakelam

Citations in the corpus

• Formation rates of complex organics in UV irradiated CH3OH-rich ices I: Experiments (2009, background): “…complexity are being detect d in star-forming regions (Blake et al. 1987; Nummelin et al. 2000; Bisschop et al. 2007b; van Dishoeck et al. 1995; Cazaux et al. 2003; Bottinelli et al. 2004, 2007; Belloche et al. 2009); however, the origins of these complex molecules are the subject of debate.”
• Testing grain surface chemistry : a survey of deuterated formaldehyde and methanol in low-mass Class 0 protostars (2006, background): “Indeed Bottinelli et al.(2004) observed complex molecules in the Hot Core of IRAS4A, molecules that were detected for the first time in a low-mass protostar towards IRAS16293 (Cazaux et al. 2003).”
• Astrochemistry and compositions of planetary systems (2020, background): “The name “hot corino” was introduced by Bottinelli et al. (2004) to classify the low-mass or protosun analog of a hot core.”
• Hot corinos in NGC 1333-IRAS4B and IRAS2A (2006, background): “We also have a possible detection for C2H5OH at 226.661 GHz in IRAS4B2.”
• Organic molecules in the Galactic center - Hot core chemistry without hot cores (2006, methodology): “In this case the molecular abundances were derived by assuming a source size of 0.5′′ for IRAS 4A (Bottinelli et al. 2004a), 0.25′′ for IRAS 4B, 0.43′′ for IRAS 2A (Maret et al. 2004), and 2′′ for IRAS 16293-2422 (Cazaux et al. 2003).”
• Molecular Evolution and Star Formation: From Prestellar Cores to Protostellar Cores (2007, background): “We are dealing here with the formation of a low-mass protostar, so the hot-core stage is more aptly referred to as a “hot corino”, and short time scales have previously been discussed for such regions (Wakelam et al. 2004; Bottinelli et al. 2004a).”
• Complex Molecules in the L1157 Molecular Outflow (2008, background): “Even so, similar low temperatures have also been derived for the same complex molecules in the gas immediately surrounding low-mass protostars (Cazaux et al. 2003; Bottinelli et al. 2004; 2007).”
• Our astrochemical heritage (2012, background): “Since then, more low-mass hot cores have been discovered and, to distinguish them from the high-mass hot cores, they were called hot corinos ([60]; [61]; [62]; [256]; [230]; see also the review by [203]).”
• Detection of complex organic molecules in a prestellar core: a new challenge for astrochemical models (2012, background): “This is a factor of ∼100 lower than in hot corinos (e.g. in NGC1333-IRAS4A – Bottinelli et al. 2004), similar to the formaldehyde abundance ratio between prestellar cores (Bacmann et al. 2003) and hot corinos (Bottinelli et al. 2004).”
• THE ORIGIN OF COMPLEX ORGANIC MOLECULES IN PRESTELLAR CORES (2014, background): “Since then, they have been discovered in a variety of environments such as low-mass hot corinos (Cazaux et al. 2003; Bottinelli et al. 2004; Ceccarelli 2005) and cold envelopes (Jaber et al. 2014), Galactic Center cold clouds (Requena-Torrelles et al. 2006), and prestellar cores (Öberg et al.…”
• A COLD COMPLEX CHEMISTRY TOWARD THE LOW-MASS PROTOSTAR B1-b: EVIDENCE FOR COMPLEX MOLECULE PRODUCTION IN ICES (2010, result): “Assuming the same source sizes of CH3OH and complex molecules toward protostars observed with single-dish telescopes result in abundances of a few % with respect to CH3OH, comparable to those observed toward B1-b (Maret et al. 2005; Bottinelli et al. 2004, 2007).”
• Simulation of the Formation and Morphology of Ice Mantles on Interstellar Grains (2007, background): “In protostellar regions, the ices evaporate and change the nature of the gas-phase chemistry (Caselli et al. 1993; Bottinelli et al. 2004).”
• The chemical history of molecules in circumstellar disks - I. Ices (2009, background): “The gas-phase route towards complex organics involves the hot inner envelope (Td > 100 K), also called the hot core or hot corino in the case of low-mass protostars (Ceccarelli 2004; Bottinelli et al. 2004, 2007).”
• Formation of Complex Molecules in Prestellar Cores: A Multilayer Approach (2017, background): “Formation of COMs in hot cores and corinos is reasonably well explained by the “warm-up scenario” (Garrod & Herbst 2006; Garrod et al. 2008), in which complex organic molecules first form via surface radical-radical reactions at 30– 40 K and then evaporate to the gas at higher temperatures reaching ”
• Near-Arcsecond Resolution Observations of the Hot Corino of the Solar-Type Protostar IRAS 16293–2422 (2004, background): “But our theories have some flaws, since complex organic molecules have been detected in the two (out of two) sources where they have been searched for: IRAS 16293 2422 (Cazaux et al. 2003) and NGC 1333 IRAS 4A (Bottinelli et al. 2004).”
• Complex Chemistry in Star-forming Regions: An Expanded Gas-Grain Warm-up Chemical Model (2008, background): “The low-mass protostellar analogs of hot cores, the so-called ‘hot corinos’, also show strong signatures of complex molecules (Cazaux et al. 2003; Bottinelli et al. 2004a,b).”