| Description |
Study of the molecular content of regions far beyond our Solar System
has advanced enormously during the last few decades, from the first
detections of diatomic molecules to the discovery of polyatomic,
complex organic molecules. Nowadays, one major goal of Astrochemistry
is to have the most accurate census of the molecular content (and
complexity) in Star Forming Regions (SFRs). In the era of the
molecular content census, unbiased spectral surveys in the radio to Infrared of
SFRs have become a fundamental and necessary tool in modern astrochemistry
research.
In this context, the frequency range covered by HSO-HIFI, 500-2000
GHz, is of particular importance. It is in this frequency range that
light molecules have their ground and low energy transitions, whereas
heavier molecules have higher energy transitions. The latter are
excited in the warm gas, whereas the former probe the gas at low
temperatures as well. It is therefore in the HIFI frequency range
that the major gas coolants (notably H _2 O) and some key components
of the chemical composition of SFRs emit.
We propose to obtain Spectral Surveys in the HSO-HIFI range of a
representative sample of SFRs. To have a meaningful coverage of the
different evolutionary stages and different masses requires a large
amount of time, about 300 hrs. The proposed observations will provide
a large dataset of uttermost interest for the entire astronomical
community, and, particularly for the study of star formation processes
and of the influence of chemistry on star and planet formation. These
two basic aspects, a large requested observing time and an output of
high archival value, make the present proposal suitable for a HSO Key
Program. |
| Publication |
Ortho-to-para ratio of interstellar heavy water . Vastel C. et al. . Astronomy and Astrophysics, Volume 521, id.L31, 5 pp. . 521 . 10.1051\/0004-6361\/201015101 . 2010A&A...521L..31V ,
A study of deuterated water in the low-mass protostar IRAS 16293-2422 . Coutens A. et al. . Astronomy & Astrophysics, Volume 539, id.A132, 12 pp. . 539 . 10.1051\/0004-6361\/201117627 . 2012A&A...539A.132C ,
Exploring the Origins of Earth’s Nitrogen: Astronomical Observations of Nitrogen-bearing Organics in Protostellar Environments . Rice Thomas S. et al. . The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 866, Issue 2, article id. 156, 16 pp. (2018). . 866 . 10.3847\/1538-4357\/aadfdb . 2018ApJ...866..156R ,
Heavy water stratification in a low-mass protostar . Coutens A. et al. . Astronomy & Astrophysics, Volume 553, id.A75, 7 pp. . 553 . 10.1051\/0004-6361\/201220967 . 2013A&A...553A..75C ,
3D modelling of HCO+ and its isotopologues in the low-mass proto-star IRAS16293-2422 . Quénard D. et al. . Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 477, Issue 4, p.5312-5326 . 477 . 10.1093\/mnras\/sty1004 . 2018MNRAS.477.5312Q ,
Herschel spectral surveys of star-forming regions. Overview of the 555-636 GHz range . Ceccarelli C. et al. . Astronomy and Astrophysics, Volume 521, id.L22, 8 pp. . 521 . 10.1051\/0004-6361\/201015081 . 2010A&A...521L..22C ,
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