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Context. Turbulence is a key component of molecular cloud structure. It is usually described by a cascade of energy down to the dissipation scale. The power spectrum for subsonic incompressible turbulence is $k^{-5/3}$, while for supersonic turbulence it is $k^{-2}$. Aims. We aim to determine the power spectrum in an actively star-forming molecular cloud, from parsec scales down to the expected magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) wave cutoff (dissipation scale). Methods. We analyze observations of the nearby NGC 1333 star-forming region in three different tracers to cover the different scales from $\sim$10 pc down to 20 mpc. The largest scales are covered with the low density gas tracer $^{13}$CO (1-0) obtained with single dish, the intermediate scales are covered with single-dish observations of the C$^{18}$O (3-2) line, while the smallest scales are covered in H$^{13}$CO$^+$ (1-0) and HNC (1-0) with a combination of NOEMA interferometer and IRAM 30m single dish observations. The complementarity of these observations enables us to generate a combined power spectrum covering more than two orders of magnitude in spatial scale. Results. We derive the power spectrum in an active star-forming region spanning more than 2 decades of spatial scales. The power spectrum of the intensity maps shows a single power-law behavior, with an exponent of 2.9$\pm$0.1 and no evidence of dissipation. Moreover, there is evidence for the power-spectrum of the ions to have more power at smaller scales than the neutrals, which is opposite from theoretical expectations. Conclusions. We show new possibilities of studying the dissipation of energy at small scales in star-forming regions provided by interferometric observations., Comment: 6 pages (+2 appendix), 5 figures. Accepted to A&A Letters. GitHub repo with code available at https://github.com/jpinedaf/NGC1333_NOEMA_turbulence

Molecular deuteration is a powerful diagnostic tool for probing the physical conditions and chemical processes in astrophysical environments. In this work, we focus on formaldehyde deuteration in the protobinary system NGC\,1333 IRAS\,4A, located in the Perseus molecular cloud. Using high-resolution ($\sim$\,100\,au) ALMA observations, we investigate the [D$_2$CO]/[HDCO] ratio along the cavity walls of the outflows emanating from IRAS\,4A1. Our analysis reveals a consistent decrease in the deuteration ratio (from $\sim$\,60-20\% to $\sim$\,10\%) with increasing distance from the protostar (from $\sim$\,2000\,au to $\sim$\,4000\,au). Given the large measured [D$_2$CO]/[HDCO], both HDCO and D$_2$CO are likely injected by the shocks along the cavity walls into the gas-phase from the dust mantles, formed in the previous prestellar phase. We propose that the observed [D$_2$CO]/[HDCO] decrease is due to the density profile of the prestellar core from which NGC\,1333 IRAS\,4A was born. When considering the chemical processes at the base of formaldehyde deuteration, the IRAS\,4A's prestellar precursor had a predominantly flat density profile within 3000\,au and a decrease of density beyond this radius.

In the absence of laboratory data, state-of-the-art quantum chemical approaches can provide estimates on the binding energy (BE) of interstellar species with grains. Without BE values, contemporary astrochemical models are compelled to utilize wild guesses, often delivering misleading information. Here, we employ a fully quantum chemical approach to estimate the BE of 7 diatomic radicals - CH, NH, OH, SH, CN, NS, and NO, playing a crucial role in shaping the interstellar chemical composition, using a suitable amorphous solid water model as a substrate since water is the principal constituent of interstellar ice in dense and shielded regions. While the BEs are compatible with physisorption, the binding of CH in some sites shows chemisorption, in which a chemical bond to an oxygen atom of a water molecule is formed. While no structural change can be observed for the CN radical, it is believed that the formation of a hemibonded system between the outer layer of the water cluster and the radical is the reason for the unusually large BE in one of the binding sites considered in our study. A significantly lower BE for NO, consistent with recent calculations, is obtained, which is useful in explaining the recently observed HONO/NH2OH and HONO/HNO ratio in the low-mass hot corino, IRAS 16293-2422B, with chemical models.

Newly-computed collisional rate coefficients for the excitation of C$_2$ in collisions with H$_2$, presented recently by Najar and Kalugina (2020), are significantly larger than the values adopted previously in models for the excitation of the C$_2$ molecule, a widely used probe of the interstellar gas density. With these new rate coefficients, we have modeled the C$_2$ rotational distributions inferred from visible and ultraviolet absorption observations of electronic transitions of C$_2$ towards a collection of 46 nearby background sources. The inferred gas densities in the foreground interstellar clouds responsible for the observed C$_2$ absorption are a factor 4 to 7 smaller than those inferred previously, a direct reflection of the larger collisional rate coefficients computed by Najar and Kalugina (2020). These lower density estimates are generally in good agreement with the peak densities inferred from 3D extinction maps for the relevant sightlines. In cases where H$_3^+$ absorption has also been observed and used to estimate the cosmic-ray ionization rate (CRIR), our estimates of the latter will also decrease accordingly because the H$_3^+$ abundance is a function of the ratio of the CRIR to the gas density., Comment: 46 pages, 11 figures, 1 figure set with 23 figures, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal. Version 2: An error is corrected in Table 2, in which values listed in two of the columns were jumbled in Version 1. There are no other changes

Sulphur-bearing species play crucial roles in interstellar chemistry, yet their precise characterisation remains challenging. Here, we present laboratory experiments aimed at extending the high-resolution spectroscopy of protonated carbonyl sulphide (HOCS$^+$), a recently detected molecular ion in space. Using a frequency-modulated free-space absorption spectrometer, we detected rotational transitions of HOCS$^+$ in an extended negative glow discharge with a mixture of H$_2$ and OCS, extending the high-resolution rotational characterisation of the cation well into the millimetre wave region (200-370 GHz). Comparisons with prior measurements and quantum chemical calculations revealed an overall agreement in the spectroscopic parameters. With the new spectroscopic dataset in hand, we re-investigated the observations of HOCS$^+$ towards G+0.693-0.027, which were initially based solely on K$_a$ = 0 lines contaminated by HNC$^{34}$S. This re-investigation enabled the detection of weak K$_a$ = 0 transitions, free from HNC$^{34}$S contamination. Our high-resolution spectroscopic characterisation also provides valuable insights for future millimetre and submillimetre astronomical observations of these species in different interstellar environments. In particular, the new high-resolution catalogue will facilitate the search for this cation in cold dark clouds, where very narrow line widths are typically observed., Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures, and 3 tables. Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics

In order to develop a more comprehensive picture of star formation, it is essential to understand the physical relationship between dense cores and the filaments embedding them. There is evidence that magnetic fields play a crucial role in this context. We aim to understand how magnetic fields influence the properties and kinematics of an isolated filament located east of the Barnard 59 clump, belonging to the Pipe Nebula. We use near infrared polarization observations to determine the magnetic field configuration, and we apply the Davis Chandrasekhar Fermi method to infer the magnetic field strength in the plane of the sky. Furthermore, we use complementary data from the James Clerk Maxwell Submillimetre Telescope (JCMT) of C18O and 13CO J=3-2 transition to determine the filament's kinematics. Finally, we model the radial density profile of the filament with polytropic cylindrical models. Our results indicate that the filament is stable to radial collapse and is radially supported by agents other than thermal pressure. In addition, based on previous observations of emission lines on this source, we suggest that gas is flowing toward the hub, while C18O (3-2) non-thermal motions indicate that the cloud is in a quiescent state., Comment: 12 pages, accepted at A&A journal

We present spectra of the first overtone vibration transition of $\text{C-H}$/$\text{O-H}$ stretch ($2\nu_1$) in $\text{HCO}^+$ and $\text{HOC}^+$, recorded using a laser induced reaction action scheme inside a cryogenic 22 pole radio frequency trap. Band origins have been located at 6078.68411(19) and 6360.17630(26) $\text{cm}^{-1}$, respectively. We introduce a technique based on mass selective ejection from the ion trap for recording background free action spectra. Varying the number density of the neutral action scheme reactant ($\text{CO}_2$ and Ar, respectively) and collisional partner reactant inside the ion trap, permitted us to estimate the radiative lifetime of the state to be 1.53(34) and 1.22(34) ms, respectively, and the collisional quenching rates of $\text{HCO}^+$ ($2\nu_1$) with He, H$_2$, and N$_2$., Comment: To appear in ChemPhysChem

(abridged) We have mapped the prestellar core H-MM1 in Ophiuchus in rotational lines of ortho-H2D+ (oH2D+), N2H+, and DCO+ at the wavelength 0.8 mm with the Large APEX sub-Millimeter Array (LAsMA) multibeam receiver of the Atacama Pathfinder EXperiment (APEX) telescope. We also ran a series of chemistry models to predict the abundance distributions of the observed molecules, and to estimate the effect of the cosmic-ray ionisation rate on their abundances. The three line maps show different distributions. The oH2D+ map is extended and outlines the general structure of the core, while N2H+ mainly shows the density maxima, and the DCO+ emission peaks are shifted towards one edge of the core where a region of enhanced desorption has been found previously. According to the chemical simulation, the fractional oH2D+ abundance remains relatively high in the centre of the core, and its column density correlates strongly with the cosmic-ray ionisation rate. Simulated line maps constrain the cosmic-ray ionisation rate per hydrogen molecule to be low, between 5e-18/s and 1e-17/s in the H-MM1 core. This estimate agrees with the gas temperature measured in the core. Modelling line emission of oH2D+ provides a straightforward method of determining the cosmic-ray ionisation rate in dense clouds, where the primary ion, H3+, is not observable., Comment: accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics

The exploration of outflows in protobinary systems presents a challenging yet crucial endeavour, offering valuable insights into the dynamic interplay between protostars and their evolution. In this study, we examine the morphology and dynamics of jets and outflows within the IRAS\,4A protobinary system. This analysis is based on ALMA observations of SiO(5--4), H$_2$CO(3$_{0,3}$--2$_{0,3}$), and HDCO(4$_{1,4}$--3$_{1,3}$) with a spatial resolution of $\sim$150\,au. Leveraging an astrochemical approach involving the use of diverse tracers beyond traditional ones has enabled the identification of novel features and a comprehensive understanding of the broader outflow dynamics. Our analysis reveals the presence of two jets in the redshifted emission, emanating from IRAS\,4A1 and IRAS\,4A2, respectively. Furthermore, we identify four distinct outflows in the region for the first time, with each protostar, 4A1 and 4A2, contributing to two of them. We characterise the morphology and orientation of each outflow, challenging previous suggestions of bends in their trajectories. The outflow cavities of IRAS\,4A1 exhibit extensions of 10$''$ and 13$''$ with position angles (PA) of 0$^{\circ}$ and -12$^{\circ}$, respectively, while those of IRAS\,4A2 are more extended, spanning 18$''$ and 25$''$ with PAs of 29$^{\circ}$ and 26$^{\circ}$. We propose that the misalignment of the cavities is due to a jet precession in each protostar, a notion supported by the observation that the more extended cavities of the same source exhibit lower velocities, indicating they may stem from older ejection events.

The chemistry of H2O, CO and other small molecular species in an isolated pre-stellar core, L1544, has been assessed in the context of a comprehensive gas-grain chemical model, coupled to an empirically constrained physical/dynamical model. Our main findings are (i) that the chemical network remains in near equilibrium as the core evolves towards star formation and the molecular abundances change in response to the evolving physical conditions. The gas-phase abundances at any time can be calculated accurately with equilibrium chemistry, and the concept of chemical clocks is meaningless in molecular clouds with similar conditions and dynamical time scales, and (ii) A comparison of the results of complex and simple chemical networks indicates that the abundances of the dominant oxygen and carbon species, H2O, CO, C, and C+ are reasonably approximated by simple networks. In chemical equilibrium, the time-dependent differential terms vanish and a simple network reduces to a few algebraic equations. This allows rapid calculation of the abundances most responsible for spectral line radiative cooling in molecular clouds with long dynamical time scales. The dust ice mantles are highly structured and the ice layers retain a memory of the gas-phase abundances at the time of their deposition. A complex (gas-phase and gas-grain) chemical structure therefore exists, with cosmic-ray induced processes dominating in the inner regions. The inferred H2O abundance profiles for L1544 require that the outer parts of the core and also any medium exterior to the core are essentially transparent to the interstellar radiation field., Comment: 19 pages, 6 figures

A compact source, G0.02467-0.0727, was detected in ALMA \threemm observations in continuum and very broad line emission. The continuum emission has a spectral index $\alpha\approx3.3$, suggesting that the emission is from dust. The line emission is detected in several transitions of CS, SO, and SO$_2$ and exhibits a line width FWHM $\approx160$ \kms. The line profile appears Gaussian. The emission is weakly spatially resolved, coming from an area on the sky $\lesssim1"$ in diameter ($\lesssim10^4$ AU at the distance of the Galactic Center; GC). The centroid velocity is $v_{LSR}\approx40$-$50$ \kms, which is consistent with a location in the Galactic Center. With multiple SO lines detected, and assuming local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) conditions, $T_\mathrm{LTE} = 13$ K, which is colder than seen in typical GC clouds, though we cannot rule out low-density, subthermally excited, warmer gas. Despite the high velocity dispersion, no emission is observed from SiO, suggesting that there are no strong ($\gtrsim10~\mathrm{km~s}^{-1}$) shocks in the molecular gas. There are no detections at other wavelengths, including X-ray, infrared, and radio. We consider several explanations for the Millimeter Ultra-Broad Line Object (MUBLO), including protostellar outflow, explosive outflow, collapsing cloud, evolved star, stellar merger, high-velocity compact cloud, intermediate mass black hole, and background galaxy. Most of these conceptual models are either inconsistent with the data or do not fully explain it. The MUBLO is, at present, an observationally unique object., Comment: Accepted to ApJL

The detection of narrow channels of accretion toward protostellar disks, known as streamers, have increased in number in the last few years. However, it is unclear if streamers are a common feature around protostars that were previously missed, or if they are a rare phenomenon. Our goals are to obtain the incidence of streamers toward a region of clustered star formation and to trace the origins of their gas, to determine if they originate within the filamentary structure of molecular clouds or from beyond. We used combined observations of the nearby NGC 1333 star-forming region, carried out with the NOEMA interferometer and the IRAM 30m single dish. Our observations cover the area between the IRAS 4 and SVS 13 systems. We traced the chemically fresh gas within NGC 1333 with HC3N molecular gas emission and the structure of the fibers in this region with N2H+ emission. We fit multiple velocity components in both maps and used clustering algorithms to recover velocity-coherent structures. We find streamer candidates toward 7 out of 16 young stellar objects within our field of view. This represents an incidence of approximately 40\% of young stellar objects with streamer candidates when looking at a clustered star forming region. The incidence increases to about 60\% when we considered only embedded protostars. All streamers are found in HC3N emission. Given the different velocities between HC3N and N2H+ emission, and the fact that, by construction, N2H+ traces the fiber structure, we suggest that the gas that forms the streamers comes from outside the fibers. This implies that streamers can connect cloud material that falls to the filaments with protostellar disk scales., Comment: 22 pages, 15 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics. GitHub repository with code available at https://github.com/tere-valdivia/propstar_gasflow

Streamers bring gas from outer regions to protostellar systems and could change the chemical composition around protostars and protoplanetary disks. We have carried out mapping observations of carbon-chain species (HC$_3$N, HC$_5$N, CCH, and CCS) in the 3mm and 7mm bands toward the streamer flowing to the Class 0 young stellar object (YSO) Per-emb-2 with the Nobeyama 45m radio telescope. A region with a diameter of $\sim0.04$ pc is located north with a distance of $\sim 20,500$ au from the YSO. The streamer connects to this north region which is the origin of the streamer. The reservoir has high density and low temperature ($n_{\rm {H}_2} \approx 1.9 \times 10^4$ cm$^{-3}$, $T_{\rm {kin}} = 10$ K), which are similar to those of early stage starless cores. By comparisons with the observed abundance ratios of CCS/HC$_3$N to the chemical simulations, the reservoir and streamer are found to be chemically young. The total mass available for the streamer is derived to be $24-34$ M$_{\odot}$. If all of the gas in the reservoir will accrete onto the Per-emb-2 protostellar system, the lifetime of the streamer has been estimated at ($1.1 - 3.2$)$\times10^{5}$ yr, suggesting that the mass accretion via the streamer would continue until the end of the Class I stage., Comment: Accepted for The Astrophysical Journal (ApJ), 18 pages, 10 figures, 6 tables

Electron fraction and cosmic-ray ionization rates (CRIR) in star-forming regions are important quantities in astrochemical modeling and are critical to the degree of coupling between neutrals, ions, and electrons, which regulates the dynamics of the magnetic field. However, these are difficult quantities to estimate. We aim to derive the electron fraction and CRIR maps of an active star-forming region. We combined observations of the nearby NGC 1333 star-forming region carried out with the NOEMA interferometer and IRAM 30-m single dish to generate high spatial dynamic range maps of different molecular transitions. We used the DCO$^+$ and H$^{13}$CO$^+$ ratio (in addition to complementary data) to estimate the electron fraction and produce cosmic-ray ionization rate maps. We derived the first large-area electron fraction and CRIR resolved maps in a star-forming region, with typical values of $10^{-6.5}$ and $10^{-16.5}$ s$^{-1}$, respectively. The maps present clear evidence of enhanced values around embedded young stellar objects (YSOs). This provides strong evidence for locally accelerated cosmic rays. We also found a strong enhancement toward the northwest region in the map that might be related either to an interaction with a bubble or to locally generated cosmic rays by YSOs. We used the typical electron fraction and derived a MHD turbulence dissipation scale of 0.054 pc, which could be tested with future observations. We found a higher cosmic-ray ionization rate compared to the canonical value for $N({\rm H_2})=10^{21}-10^{23}$ cm$^{-2}$ of $10^{-17}$ s$^{-1}$ in the region, and it is likely generated by the accreting YSOs. The high value of the electron fraction suggests that new disks will form from gas in the ideal-MHD limit. This indicates that local enhancements of $\zeta({\rm H_2})$, due to YSOs, should be taken into account in the analysis of clustered star formation., Comment: 13 pages, 13 Figures. Accepted to A&A. Abridged abstract. GitHub repo with code available at https://github.com/jpinedaf/NGC1333_NOEMA_Ions

W43-main is a massive molecular complex located at the interaction of the Scutum arm and the Galactic bar undergoing starburst activities. We aim to investigate the gas dynamics, in particular, the prevailing shock signatures from the cloud to clump scale and assess the impact of shocks on the formation of dense gas and early-stage cores. We have carried out NOEMA and IRAM-30m observations at 3 mm with an angular resolution of $\sim$0.1 pc towards five massive clumps in W43 main. We use CH$_{3}$CCH and H$_{2}$CS lines to trace the extended gas temperature and CH$_{3}$OH lines to probe the volume density of the dense gas ($\gtrsim$10$^{5}$ cm$^{-3}$). The emission of SiO (2-1) is extensive across the region ($\sim$4 pc) and is mostly contained within a low-velocity regime, hinting at a large-scale origin of the shocks. The position-velocity maps of multiple tracers show systematic spatio-kinematic offsets supporting the cloud-cloud collision/merging scenario. We identify an additional extended velocity component in CCH emission, which coincides with one of the velocity components of the larger scale $^{13}$CO (2-1) emission, likely representing an outer, less dense gas layer in the cloud merging process. We find that the V-shaped, asymmetric SiO wings are tightly correlated with localised gas density enhancements, which is direct evidence of dense gas formation and accumulation in shocks. We resolve two categories of NH$_{2}$D cores: ones exhibiting only subsonic to transonic velocity dispersion, and the others with an additional supersonic velocity dispersion. The centroid velocities of the latter cores are correlated with the shock front seen by SiO. The kinematics of the $\sim$0.1 pc NH$_{2}$D cores are heavily imprinted by shock activities, and may represent a population of early-stage cores forming around the shock interface., Comment: 35 pages, 34 figures (including appendices); Accepted in A&A

Magnetic fields may play a crucial role in setting the initial conditions of massive star and star cluster formation. To investigate this, we report SOFIA-HAWC+ $214\:\mu$m observations of polarized thermal dust emission and high-resolution GBT-Argus C$^{18}$O(1-0) observations toward the massive Infrared Dark Cloud (IRDC) G28.37+0.07. Considering the local dispersion of $B$-field orientations, we produce a map of $B$-field strength of the IRDC, which exhibits values between $\sim0.03 - 1\:$mG based on a refined Davis-Chandrasekhar-Fermi (r-DCF) method proposed by Skalidis \& Tassis. Comparing to a map of inferred density, the IRDC exhibits a $B-n$ relation with a power law index of $0.51\pm0.02$, which is consistent with a scenario of magnetically-regulated anisotropic collapse. Consideration of the mass-to-flux ratio map indicates that magnetic fields are dynamically important in most regions of the IRDC. A virial analysis of a sample of massive, dense cores in the IRDC, including evaluation of magnetic and kinetic internal and surface terms, indicates consistency with virial equilibrium, sub-Alfv\'enic conditions and a dominant role for $B-$fields in regulating collapse. A clear alignment of magnetic field morphology with direction of steepest column density gradient is also detected. However, there is no preferred orientation of protostellar outflow directions with the $B-$field. Overall, these results indicate that magnetic fields play a crucial role in regulating massive star and star cluster formation and so need to be accounted for in theoretical models of these processes., Comment: Submitted to ApJ, comments welcome

Aims. We aim to study the structure and kinematics of the two filaments inside the subsonic core Barnard 5 in Perseus using high-resolution ($\approx$ 2400 au) NH3 data and a multi-component fit analysis. Methods. We used observations of NH3 (1,1) and (2,2) inversion transitions using the Very Large Array (VLA) and the Green Bank Telescope (GBT). We smoothed the data to a beam of 8'' to reliably fit multiple velocity components towards the two filamentary structures identified in B5. Results. Along with the core and cloud components, which dominate the flux in the line of sight, we detected two components towards the two filaments showing signs of infall. We also detected two additional components that can possibly trace new material falling into the subsonic core of B5. Conclusions. Following comparison with previous simulations of filament formation scenarios in planar geometry, we conclude that either the formation of the B5 filaments is likely to be rather cylindrically symmetrical or the filaments are magnetically supported. We also estimate infall rates of $1.6\times10^{-4}\,M_\odot\,yr^{-1}$ and $1.8\times10^{-4}\,M_\odot\,yr^{-1}$ (upper limits) for the material being accreted onto the two filaments. At these rates, the filament masses can change significantly during the core lifetime. We also estimate an upper limit of $3.5\times10^{-5}\,M_\odot\,yr^{-1}$ for the rate of possible infall onto the core itself. Accretion of new material onto cores indicates the need for a significant update to current core evolution models, where cores are assumed to evolve in isolation., Comment: 15 pages, 13 figures, accepted for publication on Astronomy and Astrophysics. The scripts used for the analysis presented in this paper can be found at https://github.com/SpandanCh/Barnard5_filaments

The synergy between high-resolution rotational spectroscopy and quantum-chemical calculations is essential for exploring future detection of molecules, especially when spectroscopy parameters are not available yet. By using highly correlated ab initio quartic force fields (QFFs) from explicitly correlated coupled cluster theory, a complete set of rotational constants and centrifugal distortion constants for D$_2$CS and cis/trans-DCSD isomers have been produced. Comparing our new ab initio results for D$_2$CS with new rotational spectroscopy laboratory data for the same species, the accuracy of the computed B and C rotational constants is within 0.1% while the A constant is only slightly higher. Additionally, quantum chemical vibrational frequencies are also provided, and these spectral reference data and new experimental rotational lines will provide additional references for potential observation of these deuterated sulfur species with either ground-based radio telescopes or space-based infrared observatories., Comment: 15 pages, 2 figures and 1 appendix table; published in Molecular Physics (Tim Lee Memorial Issue)

We determine the ortho/para ratios of NH2D and NHD2 in two dense, starless cores, where their formation is supposed to be dominated by gas-phase reactions, which, in turn, is predicted to result in deviations from the statistical spin ratios. The Large APEX sub-Millimeter Array (LAsMA) multibeam receiver of the Atacama Pathfinder EXperiment (APEX) telescope was used to observe the prestellar cores H-MM1 and Oph D in Ophiuchus in the ground-state lines of ortho and para NH2D and NHD2. The fractional abundances of these molecules were derived employing 3D radiative transfer modelling, using different assumptions about the abundance profiles as functions of density. We also ran gas-grain chemistry models with different scenarios concerning proton or deuteron exchanges and chemical desorption from grains to find out if one of these models can reproduce the observed spin ratios. The observationally deduced ortho/para ratios of NH2D and NHD2 are in both cores within 10% of their statistical values 3 and 2, respectively, and taking 3-sigma limits, deviations from these of about 20% are allowed. Of the chemistry models tested here, the model that assumes proton hop (as opposed to full scrambling) in reactions contributing to ammonia formation, and a constant efficiency of chemical desorption, comes nearest to the observed abundances and spin ratios. The nuclear spin ratios derived here are in contrast with spin-state chemistry models that assume full scrambling in proton donation and hydrogen abstraction reactions leading to deuterated ammonia. The efficiency of chemical desorption influences strongly the predicted abundances of NH3, NH2D, and NHD2, but has a lesser effect on their ortho/para ratios. For these the proton exchange scenario in the gas is decisive. We suggest that this is because of rapid re-processing of ammonia and related cations by gas-phase ion-molecule reactions., Comment: accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics

Multiwavelength dust continuum and polarization observations arising from self-scattering have been used to investigate grain sizes in young disks. However, the polarization by self-scattering is low in face-on optically thick disks and puts some of the size constraints from polarization on hold, particularly for the younger and more massive disks. The 1.3 mm emission detected toward the hot ($\gtrsim$400 K) Class 0 disk IRAS 16293-2422 B has been attributed to self-scattering, predicting grain sizes between 200-2000 $\mu$m. We investigate the effects of grain size in the resultant flux and polarization fractions from self-scattering using a hot and massive Class 0 disk model and compare with observations. We compared new and archival high-resolution observations between 1.3 and 18 mm to a set of synthetic models. We have developed a new public tool to automate this process called Synthesizer. This is an easy-to-use program to generate synthetic observations from numerical simulations. Optical depths are in the range of 130 to 2 from 1.3 to 18 mm, respectively. Predictions from significant grain growth populations, including millimetric grains are comparable to the observations at all wavelengths. The polarization fraction produced by self-scattering reaches a maximum of $\sim$0.1% at 1.3 mm for a maximum grain size of 100 $\mu$m, being an order of magnitude lower than that observed with ALMA. From the comparison of Stokes I fluxes, we conclude that significant grain growth could be present in the young Class 0 disk IRAS 16293 B, particularly in the inner hot region ($<10$ au, $T>$ 300 K) where refractory organics evaporate. The polarization produced by self-scattering in our model is not high enough to explain the observations at 1.3 and 7 mm, and effects like dichroic extinction or polarization reversal of elongated aligned grains remain other possible but untested scenarios., Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A

Context. Traditionally, supersonic turbulence is considered to be one of the most likely mechanisms to slow down the gravitational collapse in dense clumps, thereby enabling the formation of massive stars. However, several recent studies have raised differing points of view based on observations carried out with sufficiently high spatial and spectral resolution. These studies call for a re-evaluation of the role turbulence plays in massive star-forming regions. Aims. Our aim is to study the gas properties, especially the turbulence, in a sample of massive star-forming regions with sufficient spatial and spectral resolution, which can both resolve the core fragmentation and the thermal line width. Methods. We observed NH3 metastable lines with the Very Large Array (VLA) to assess the intrinsic turbulence. Results. Analysis of the turbulence distribution histogram for 32 identified NH3 cores reveals the presence of three distinct components. Furthermore, our results suggest that (1) sub- and transonic turbulence is a prevalent (21 of 32) feature of massive star-forming regions and those cold regions are at early evolutionary stage. This investigation indicates that turbulence alone is insufficient to provide the necessary internal pressure required for massive star formation, necessitating further exploration of alternative candidates; and (2) studies of seven multi-core systems indicate that the cores within each system mainly share similar gas properties and masses. However, two of the systems are characterized by the presence of exceptionally cold and dense cores that are situated at the spatial center of each system. Our findings support the hub-filament model as an explanation for this observed distribution, Comment: 34 pages, 15 figures, 4 tables. Accepted for publication on A&A

We present the results of molecular line observations performed toward the NGC 2068 and NGC 2071 regions of the Orion B cloud as the TRAO-FUNS project to study the roles of the filamentary structure in the formation of dense cores and stars in the clouds. Gaussian decomposition for the C$^{18}$O spectra with multiple velocity components and application of a Friends-of-Friends algorithm for the decomposed components allowed us to identify a few tens of velocity coherent filaments. We also identified 48 dense cores from the observations of N$_2$H$^{+}$ using a core finding tool, FellWalker. We made the virial analysis for these filaments and dense cores, finding that the filaments with N$_2$H$^{+}$ dense core are thermally supercritical, and the filaments with larger ratio between the line mass and the thermal critical line mass tend to have more dense cores. We investigated the contribution of the nonthermal motions in dense cores and filaments, showing the dense cores are mostly in transonic/subsonic motions while their natal filaments are mostly in supersonic motions. This may indicates that gas turbulent motions in the filaments have been dissipated at the core scale to form the dense cores there. The filaments with (dynamically evolved) dense cores in infalling motions or with NH$_2$D bright (or chemically evolved) dense cores are all found to be gravitationally critical. Therefore, the criticality of the filament is thought to provide a key condition for its fragmentation, the formation of dense cores, and their kinematical and chemical evolution., Comment: 43 pages, 34 figures (more figures are available in the online journal), 4 tables, Accepted for publication in Astrophysical Journal

Context. Deuterium in H-bearing species is enhanced during the early stages of star formation, however, only a small number of high spatial resolution deuteration studies exist towards protostellar objects, leaving the small-scale structures unrevealed and understudied. Aims. We aim to constrain the deuterium fractionation ratios in a Class 0/I protostellar object in formaldehyde (H2CO), which has abundant deuterated isotopologues in this environment. Methods. We observed the Class 0/I protobinary system [BHB2007] 11, whose emission components are embedded in circumstellar disks that have radii of 2-3 au, using ALMA within the context of the Large Program FAUST. The system is surrounded by a complex filamentary structure connecting to the larger circumbinary disk. In this work we present the first study of formaldehyde D-fractionation towards this source with detections of H2CO 3(0,3)-2(0,2), combined with HDCO 4(2,2)-3(2,1), HDCO 4(1,4)-3(1,3) and D2CO 4(0,4)-3(0,3). These observations enable multiple velocity components associated with the methanol hotspots also uncovered by FAUST data, as well as the external envelope, to be resolved. In addition, based on the kinematics seen in the observations of the H2CO emission, we propose the presence of a second large scale outflow. Results. HDCO and D2CO are only found in the central regions of the core while H2CO is found more ubiquitously. From radiative transfer modelling, the column densities ranges found for H2CO, HDCO and D2CO are (3-8)x10$^{14}$ cm$^{-2}$, (0.8-2.9)x10$^{13}$ cm$^{-2}$ and (2.6-4.3)x10$^{12}$ cm$^{-2}$, respectively, yielding an average D/H ratio of 0.01-0.04. Following the results of kinematic modelling, the second large scale feature is inconsistent with a streamer-like nature and we thus tentatively conclude that the feature is an asymmetric molecular outflow launched by a wide-angle disk wind., Comment: 17 pages, 15 figures

H2S is thought to be the main sulphur reservoir in the ice, being therefore a key molecule to understand sulphur chemistry in the star formation process and to solve the missing sulphur problem. The H2S deuterium fraction can be used to constrain its formation pathways. We investigate for the first time the H2S deuteration in a large sample of starless cores (SC). We use observations of the GEMS IRAM 30m Large Program and complementary IRAM 30m observations. We consider a sample of 19 SC in Taurus, Perseus, and Orion, detecting HDS in 10 and D2S in five. The H2S single and double deuterium fractions are analysed with regard to their relation with the cloud physical parameters, their comparison with other interstellar sources, and their comparison with deuterium fractions in early stage star-forming sources of c-C3H2, H2CS, H2O, H2CO, and CH3OH. We obtain a range of X(HDS)/X(H2S)~0.025-0.2 and X(D2S)/X(HDS)~0.05-0.3. H2S single deuteration shows an inverse relation with the cloud kinetic temperature. H2S deuteration values in SC are similar to those observed in Class 0. Comparison with other molecules in other sources reveals a general trend of decreasing deuteration with increasing temperature. In SC and Class 0 objects H2CS and H2CO present higher deuteration fractions than c-C3H2, H2S, H2O, and CH3OH. H2O shows single and double deuteration values one order of magnitude lower than those of H2S and CH3OH. Differences between c-C3H2, H2CS and H2CO deuterium fractions and those of H2S, H2O, and CH3OH are related to deuteration processes produced in gas or solid phases, respectively. We interpret the differences between H2S and CH3OH deuterations and that of H2O as a consequence of differences on the formation routes in the solid phase, particularly in terms of the different occurrence of the D-H and H-D substitution reactions in the ice, together with the chemical desorption processes., Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A

Pre-stellar cores represent a critical evolutionary phase in low-mass star formation. We aim to unveil the detailed thermal structure and density distribution of three early-stage cores, starless core L1517B, and prestellar core L694-2 and L429, with the high angular resolution observations of the NH$_{3}$ (1,1) and (2,2) inversion transitions obtained with VLA and GBT. In addition, we explore where/if NH$_{3}$ depletes in the central regions. Applying the mid-infrared extinction method to the $\textit{Spitzer}$ 8$~\mu$m map we obtain a high angular resolution hydrogen column density map, and derive the gas density profile to assess the variation of NH$_{3}$ abundance as a function of gas volume density. The measured temperature profiles of L429 and L1517B show a minor decrease towards the core center, dropping from $\sim$9\~K to below 8\~K, and $\sim$11 K to 10 K, while L694-2 has a rather uniform temperature distribution around $\sim$9 K. Among the three cores, L429 has the highest central gas density, close to sonic velocity line-width, and largest localised velocity gradient, all indicative of an advanced evolutionary stage. We resolve that the abundance of NH$_{3}$ becomes two times lower in the central region of L429, occurring around a gas density of 4.4$\times$10$^{4}$$~cm^{-3}$. Compared to Ophiuchus/H-MM1 which shows an even stronger drop of the NH$_{3}$ abundance at 2$\times$10$^{5}$$~cm^{-3}$, the abundance variations of the three cores plus Ophiuchus/H-MM1 suggest a progressive NH$_{3}$ depletion with increasing central density of the core., Comment: 23 pages, 23 figures incl. appendix; A&A accepted

We revise the rates of reactions CH + S -> CS + H and C_2 + S -> CS + C, important CS formation routes in dark and diffuse warm gas. We performed ab initio calculations to characterize the main features of all the electronic states correlating to the open shell reactants. For CH+S we have calculated the full potential energy surfaces for the lowest doublet states and the reaction rate constant with a quasi-classical method. For C_2+S, the reaction can only take place through the three lower triplet states, which all present deep insertion wells. A detailed study of the long-range interactions for these triplet states allowed to apply a statistic adiabatic method to determine the rate constants. This study of the CH + S reaction shows that its rate is nearly independent on the temperature in a range of 10-500 K with an almost constant value of 5.5 10^{-11} cm^3/s at temperatures above 100~K. This is a factor \sim 2-3 lower than the value obtained with the capture model. The rate of the reaction C_2 + S depends on the temperature taking values close to 2.0 10^{-10} cm^3/s at low temperatures and increasing to 5. 10^{-10} cm^3/s for temperatures higher than 200~K. Our modeling provides a rate higher than the one currently used by factor of \sim 2. These reactions were selected for involving open-shell species with many degenerate electronic states, and the results obtained in the present detailed calculations provide values which differ a factor of \sim 2-3 from the simpler classical capture method. We have updated the sulphur network with these new rates and compare our results in the prototypical case of TMC1 (CP). We find a reasonable agreement between model predictions and observations with a sulphur depletion factor of 20 relative to the sulphur cosmic abundance, but it is not possible to fit all sulphur-bearing molecules better than a factor of 10 at the same chemical time., Comment: 13 pages, 10 figures

Dust coagulation in protoplanetary disks is not straightforward and is subject to several slow-down mechanisms, such as bouncing, fragmentation and radial drift to the star. Furthermore, dust grains in UV-shielded disk regions are negatively charged due to collisions with the surrounding electrons and ions, which leads to their electrostatic repulsion. For typical disk conditions, the relative velocities between micron-size grains are small and their collisions are strongly affected by the repulsion. On the other hand, collisions between pebble-size grains can be too energetic, leading to grain fragmentation. The aim of the present paper is to study a combined effect of the electrostatic and fragmentation barriers on dust evolution. We numerically solve the Smoluchowski coagulation-fragmentation equation for grains whose charging occurs under conditions typical for the inner disk regions, where thermal ionization operates. We find that dust fragmentation efficiently resupplies the population of small grains under the electrostatic barrier. As a result, the equilibrium abundance of sub-micron grains is enhanced by several orders of magnitude compared to the case of neutral dust. For some conditions with fragmentation velocities $\sim 1$ m s$^{-1}$, macroscopic grains are completely destroyed., Comment: accepted for publication in ApJ

The experimental determination of the reaction rate coefficients for production and destruction of $\text{HCN}^+$ and $\text{HNC}^+$ in collisions with $\text{H}_2$ is presented. A variable temperature 22 pole radio frequency ion trap was used to study the reactions in the temperature range of $17 - 250\;\text{K}$. The obtained rate coefficients for the reaction of $\text{CN}^+$ and of $\text{HCN}^+$ with $\text{H}_2$ are close to the collisional (Langevin) value, whereas that for the reaction of $\text{HNC}^+$ with $\text{H}_2$ is quickly decreasing with increasing temperature. The product branching ratios for the reaction of $\text{CN}^+$ with $\text{H}_2$ are also reported and show a notable decrease of $\text{HNC}^+$ product with respect to $\text{HCN}^+$ product with increasing temperature. These measurements have consequences for current astrochemical models of cyanide chemistry, in particular for the $\text{HCNH}^+$ cation.

The enhancement of a cryogenic radio frequency 22 pole trap instrument by the addition of ring electrodes is presented in detail. The ring electrodes tightly surround the poles and only a fraction of the applied electric potential penetrates to the trap axis, facilitating the fine control of slow cold ions. A precise computational model, describing the effective mechanical potential created by the applied static and rf fields, governing the ion behaviour, is employed to demonstrate and understand the operation of our setup. The use of ring electrodes for improved extraction of cold stored ions is shown. Variable trapping potentials, placed on one ring electrode, can be used to control the evaporation of only those $\text{H}^+$ ions from the trap, whose kinetic energy exceeds the barrier. This ring electrode trapping opens new possibilities to study processes of minimal kinetic energy release, e. g. spin exchange. We propose a robust modified method for the determination of temperature dependent ion molecule reaction rates, resistant to effects caused by neutral gas freezing and demonstrate it on the reaction of $\text{CO}^+$/$\text{CO}_2^+$ with $\text{H}_2$/$\text{D}_2$. Finally, the use of a supercontinuum laser for quick localisation of spectroscopic bands is examined on the $\text{N}_2^+$ Meinel system.

Context. Observations of $\rm ^{14}N/^{15}N$ in the interstellar medium are becoming more frequent thanks to the increased telescope capabilities. However, interpreting these data is still puzzling. In particular, measurements of $\rm ^{14}N/^{15}N$ in diazenylium revealed high levels of anti-fractionation in cold cores. Aims. Furuya & Aikawa (2018), using astrophysical simulations coupled with a gas-grain chemical code, concluded that the $^{15}$N-depletion in prestellar cores could be inherited from the initial stages, when $\rm ^{14}N^{15}N$ is selectively photodissociated and 15N atoms deplete onto the dust grain, forming ammonia ices. We aim to test this hypothesis. Methods. We targeted three sources (the prestellar core L1544, the protostellar envelope IRAS4A, and the shocked region L1157-B1) with distinct degrees of desorption or sputtering of the ammonia ices. We observed the NH3 isotopologues with the GBT, and we inferred the $\rm ^{14}N/^{15}N$ via a spectral fitting of the observed inversion transitions. Results. $^{15}$NH3(1,1) is detected in L1544 and IRAS4A, whilst only upper limits are deduced in L1157-B1. The NH3 isotopic ratio is significantly lower towards the protostar than at the centre of L1544, where it is consistent with the elemental value. We also present the first spatially resolved map of NH3 nitrogen isotopic ratio towards L1544. Conclusions. Our results are in agreement with the hypothesis that ammonia ices are enriched in $^{15}$N, leading to a decrease of the $\rm ^{14}N/^{15}N$ ratio when the ices are sublimated into the gas phase for instance due to the temperature rise in protostellar envelopes. The ammonia $\rm ^{14}N/^{15}N$ value at the centre of L1544 is a factor of 2 lower than that of N2H+, suggesting that the dominant formation pathway is hydrogenation of N atoms on dust grains, followed by non-thermal desorption., Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A on 29/05/23

Chemistry plays a key role in many aspects of astrophysical fluids. Atoms and molecules are agents for heating and cooling, determine the ionization fraction, serve as observational tracers, and build the molecular foundation of life. We present the implementation of a chemistry module in the publicly available magneto-hydrodynamic code Athena++. We implement several chemical networks and heating and cooling processes suitable for simulating the interstellar medium (ISM). A general chemical network framework in the KIDA format is also included, allowing the user to easily implement their own chemistry. Radiation transfer and cosmic-ray ionization are coupled with chemistry and solved with the simple six-ray approximation. The chemical and thermal processes are evolved as a system of coupled ODEs with an implicit solver from the CVODE library. We perform and present a series of tests to ensure the numerical accuracy and convergence of the code. Many tests combine chemistry with gas dynamics, including comparisons with analytic solutions, 1D problems of the photo-dissociation regions and shocks, and realistic 3D simulations of the turbulent ISM. We release the code with the new public version of Athena++, aiming to provide a robust and flexible code for the astrochemical simulation community.

We present Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array Band 3 data toward five massive young stellar objects (MYSOs), and investigate relationships between unsaturated carbon-chain species and saturated complex organic molecules (COMs). An HC$_{5}$N ($J=35-34$) line has been detected from three MYSOs, where nitrogen(N)-bearing COMs (CH$_{2}$CHCN and CH$_{3}$CH$_{2}$CN) have been detected. The HC$_{5}$N spatial distributions show compact features and match with a methanol (CH$_{3}$OH) line with an upper-state energy around 300 K, which should trace hot cores. The hot regions are more extended around the MYSOs where N-bearing COMs and HC$_{5}$N have been detected compared to two MYSOs without these molecular lines, while there are no clear differences in the bolometric luminosity and temperature. We run chemical simulations of hot-core models with a warm-up stage, and compare with the observational results. The observed abundances of HC$_{5}$N and COMs show good agreements with the model at the hot-core stage with temperatures above 160 K. These results indicate that carbon-chain chemistry around the MYSOs cannot be reproduced by warm carbon-chain chemistry, and a new type of carbon-chain chemistry occurs in hot regions around MYSOs., Comment: Accepted by the publication for The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series, 32 pages,18 figures, 11 tables

Low-mass stars like our Sun begin their evolution within cold (10 K) and dense ($\sim 10^5$ cm$^{-3}$) cores of gas and dust. The physical structure of starless cores is best probed by thermal emission of dust grains. We present a high resolution dust continuum study of the starless cores in the B10 region of the Taurus Molecular Cloud. New observations at 1.2mm and 2.0mm ($12^{"}$ and $18^{"}$ resolution) with the NIKA2 instrument on the IRAM 30m have probed the inner regions of 14 low-mass starless cores. We perform sophisticated 3D radiative transfer modelling for each of these cores through the radiative transfer framework $\textit{pandora}$, which utilizes RADMC-3D. Model best-fits constrain each cores' central density, density slope, aspect ratio, opacity, and interstellar radiation field strength. These `typical' cores in B10 span central densities from $5 \times 10^4 - 1 \times 10^6$ cm$^{-3}$, with a mean value of $2.6 \times 10^5$ cm$^{-3}$. We find the dust opacity laws assumed in the 3D modelling, as well as the estimates from $\textit{Herschel}$, have dust emissivity indices, $\beta$'s, on the lower end of the distribution constrained directly from the NIKA2 maps, which averages to $\beta = 2.01\pm0.48$. From our 3D density structures and archival NH$_3$ data, we perform a self-consistent virial analysis to assess each core's stability. Ignoring magnetic field contributions, we find 9 out of the 14 cores ($64\%$) are either in virial equilibrium or are bound by gravity and external pressure. To push the bounded cores back to equilibrium, an effective magnetic field difference of only $\sim 15 \mu$G is needed., Comment: Accepted to MNRAS. 19 pages, 20 figures

We have observed the low-mass protostellar source, IRAS 15398$-$3359, at a resolution of 0.$''$2-0.$''$3, as part of the Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array Large Program FAUST, to examine the presence of a hot corino in the vicinity of the protostar. We detect nine CH$_3$OH lines including the high excitation lines with upper state energies up to 500 K. The CH$_3$OH rotational temperature and the column density are derived to be 119$^{+20}_{-26}$ K and 3.2$^{+2.5}_{-1.0}\times$10$^{18}$ cm$^{-2}$, respectively. The beam filling factor is derived to be 0.018$^{+0.005}_{-0.003}$, indicating that the emitting region of CH$_3$OH is much smaller than the synthesized beam size and is not resolved. The emitting region of three high excitation lines, 18$_{3,15}-18_{2,16}$, A ($E_u=$447 K), 19$_{3,16}-19_{2,17}$, A ($E_u=$491 K), and 20$_{3,17}-20_{2,18}$, A ($E_u=$537 K), is located within the 50 au area around the protostar, and seems to have a slight extension toward the northwest. Toward the continuum peak, we also detect one emission line from CH$_2$DOH and two features of multiple CH$_3$OCHO lines. These results, in combination with previous reports, indicate that IRAS 15398$-$3359 is a source with hybrid properties showing both hot corino chemistry rich in complex organic molecules on small scales $\sim$10 au) and warm carbon-chain chemistry (WCCC) rich in carbon-chain species on large scales ($\sim$100-1000 au). A possible implication of the small emitting region is further discussed in relation to the origin of the hot corino activity., Comment: 20pages, 3figures

Observations of protostellar envelopes are essential to understand better the process of gravitational collapse toward star and planet formation. From a theoretical perspective, magnetic fields are considered an important factor during the early stages of star formation, especially during the main accretion phase. We aim to study the relation between kinematics and magnetic fields at a very early stage of the star formation process by using data from the Atacama Pathfinder EXperiment (APEX) single dish antenna with the angular resolution of 28". We observed the two molecular lines C18O(2-1) and DCO+(3-2), toward the Class 0 young stellar object IRAS15398-3359. We implement a multi-component Gaussian fitting on the molecular data to study the kinematics. Also, we use previous polarization observations on this source to predict the influence of the magnetic field on the core. The velocity gradient along the central object can be explained as an ongoing outflow motion. We report flowing of material from the filament toward the central object, and of the merging of two velocity components in the C18O (2-1) emission around the protostar position, probably due to the merging of filamentary clouds. Our analysis shows that the large-scale magnetic field line observed previously is preferentially aligned to the rotation axis of the core.

We report a comprehensive study of the cyanopolyyne chemistry in the prototypical prestellar core L1544. Using the 100m Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope (GBT) we observe 3 emission lines of HC$_3$N, 9 lines of HC$_5$N, 5 lines of HC$_7$N, and 9 lines of HC$_9$N. HC$_9$N is detected for the first time towards the source. The high spectral resolution ($\sim$ 0.05 km s$^{-1}$) reveals double-peak spectral line profiles with the redshifted peak a factor 3-5 brighter. Resolved maps of the core in other molecular tracers indicates that the southern region is redshifted. Therefore, the bulk of the cyanopolyyne emission is likely associated with the southern region of the core, where free carbon atoms are available to form long chains, thanks to the more efficient illumination of the interstellar field radiation. We perform a simultaneous modelling of the HC$_5$N, HC$_7$N, and HC$_9$N lines, to investigate the origin of the emission. To enable this analysis, we performed new calculation of the collisional coefficients. The simultaneous fitting indicates a gas kinetic temperature of 5--12 K, a source size of 80$\arcsec$, and a gas density larger than 100 cm$^{-3}$. The HC$_5$N:HC$_7$N:HC$_9$N abundance ratios measured in L1544 are about 1:6:4. We compare our observations with those towards the the well-studied starless core TMC-1 and with the available measurements in different star-forming regions. The comparison suggests that a complex carbon chain chemistry is active in other sources and it is related to the presence of free gaseous carbon. Finally, we discuss the possible formation and destruction routes in the light of the new observations., Comment: 16 pages, 7 figure, 3 tables

We present a dedicated experimental study of microscopic mechanisms controlling radiolysis and sputtering of astrophysical ices due to their bombardment by cosmic ray ions. Such ions are slowed down due to inelastic collisions with bound electrons, resulting in ionization and excitation of ice molecules. In experiments on CO ice irradiation, we show that the relative contribution of these two mechanisms of energy loss to molecule destruction and sputtering can be probed by selecting ion energies near the peak of the electronic stopping power. We have observed a significant asymmetry, both in the destruction cross section and the sputtering yield, for pairs of ion energies corresponding to same values of the stopping power on either side of the peak. This implies that the stopping power does not solely control these processes, as usually assumed in the literature. Our results suggest that electronic excitations represent a significantly more efficient channel for radiolysis and, possibly, also for sputtering of CO ice. We also show that the charge state of incident ions as well as the rate for CO$^+$ production in the ice have negligible effect on these processes., Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ

The inheritance of material across the star and planet formation process is traced by deuterium fractionation. We report here the first detection of doubly deuterated methanol towards pre-stellar cores. We study the deuterium fractionation of methanol, CH$_{3}$OH, towards two starless and two pre-stellar cores. We derive a D/H ratio of 0.8-1.9$\%$ with CH$_{2}$DOH in pre-stellar cores H-MM1 and L694-2, consistent with measurements in more evolved Class 0/I objects and comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, suggesting a direct chemical link arising in the pre-stellar stage. Furthermore, the column density ratios of CHD$_{2}$OH/CH$_{2}$DOH are $\sim$50-80$\%$, consistently high as that towards Class 0/I objects, indicating an efficient formation mechanism of CHD$_{2}$OH, possibly through H atom additions to D$_{2}$CO. The CH$_{2}$DOH/CH$_{3}$OH and CHD$_{2}$OH/CH$_{3}$OH column density ratios in the two pre-stellar cores are larger than that in the two starless cores B68 and L1521E, representing an evolutionary trend of methanol deuteration in early-stage cores., Comment: accepted by A&A letter

Recent observations of the pre-stellar core L1544 and the younger starless core L1498 have revealed that complex organic molecules (COMs) are enhanced in the gas phase toward their outer and intermediate-density shells. Our goal is to determine the level of chemical complexity toward the starless core L1517B, which seems younger than L1498, and compare it with the other two previously studied cores to see if there is a chemical evolution within the cores. We have carried out 3 mm high-sensitivity observations toward two positions in the L1517B starless core: the core's centre and the position where the methanol emission peaks (at a distance of $\sim$5000 au from the core's centre). Our observations reveal that a lower number of COMs and COM precursors are detected in L1517B with respect to L1498 and L1544, and also show lower abundances. Besides methanol, we only detected CH$_3$O, H$_2$CCO, CH$_3$CHO, CH$_3$CN, CH$_3$NC, HCCCN, and HCCNC. Their measured abundances are $\sim$3 times larger toward the methanol peak than toward the core's centre, mimicking the behaviour found toward the more evolved cores L1544 and L1498. We propose that the differences in the chemical complexity observed between the three studied starless cores are a consequence of their evolution, with L1517B being the less evolved one, followed by L1498 and L1544. Chemical complexity in these cores seems to increase over time, with N-bearing molecules forming first and O-bearing COMs forming at a later stage as a result of the catastrophic depletion of CO., Comment: 18 pages, 13 figures

Filamentary structures have been found nearly ubiquitously in molecular clouds and yet their formation and evolution is still poorly understood. We examine a segment of Taurus Molecular Cloud 1 (TMC-1) that appears as a single, narrow filament in continuum emission from dust. We use the Regularized Optimization for Hyper-Spectral Analysis (ROHSA), a Gaussian decomposition algorithm which enforces spatial coherence when fitting multiple velocity components simultaneously over a data cube. We analyze HC$_5$N (9-8) line emission as part of the Green Bank Ammonia Survey (GAS) and identify three velocity-coherent components with ROHSA. The two brightest components extend the length of the filament, while the third component is fainter and clumpier. The brightest component has a prominent transverse velocity gradient of $2.7 \pm 0.1$ km s$^{-1}$ pc$^{-1}$ that we show to be indicative of gravitationally induced inflow. In the second component, we identify regularly spaced emission peaks along its length. We show that the local minima between pairs of adjacent HC$_5$N peaks line up closely with submillimetre continuum emission peaks, which we argue is evidence for fragmentation along the spine of TMC-1. While coherent velocity components have been described as separate physical structures in other star-forming filaments, we argue that the two bright components identified in HC$_5$N emission in TMC-1 are tracing two layers in one filament: a lower density outer layer whose material is flowing under gravity towards the higher density inner layer of the filament., Comment: 17 pages, 8 figures; Accepted for publication to MNRAS

In molecular cloud cores, the cosmic ray (CR) induced sputtering via CR ion-icy grain collision is one of the desorption processes for ice molecules from mantles around dust grains. The efficiency of this process depends on the incident CR ion properties as well as the physicochemical character of the ice mantle. Our main objective is the examination of the sputtering efficiency for H$_2$O and CO ices found in molecular cloud cores. In the calculation routine, we consider a multi-dimensional parameter space that consists of thirty CR ion types, five different CR ion energy flux distributions, two separate ice mantle components (pure H$_2$O and CO), three ice formation states, and two sputtering regimes (linear and quadratic). We find that the sputtering behavior of H$_2$O and CO ices is dominated by the quadratic regime rather than the linear regime, especially for CO sputtering. The sputtering rate coefficients for H$_2$O and CO ices show distinct variations with respect to the adopted CR ion energy flux as well as the grain size-dependent mantle depth. The maximum radius of the cylindrical latent region is quite sensitive to the effective electronic stopping power. The track radii for CO ice are much bigger than H$_2$O ice values. In contrast to the H$_2$O mantle, even relatively light CR ions ($Z \geq 4$) may lead to a track formation within the CO mantle, depending on ${\rm S_{\rm e,eff}}$. We suggest that the latent track formation threshold can be assumed as a separator between the linear and the quadratic regimes for sputtering.

A big question in the field of star and planet formation is the time at which substantial dust grain growth occurs. The observed properties of dust emission across different wavelength ranges have been used as an indication that millimeter-sized grains are already present in the envelopes of young protostars. However, this interpretation is in tension with results from coagulation simulations, which are not able to produce such large grains in these conditions. In this work, we show analytically that the production of millimeter-sized grains in protostellar envelopes is impossible under the standard assumptions about the coagulation process. We discuss several possibilities that may serve to explain the observed dust emission in the absence of in-situ grain growth to millimeter sizes., Comment: Accepted to ApJ

We present mapping results of two prestellar cores, L1544 and L694-2, embedded in filamentary clouds in C$^{18}$O (3-2), $^{13}$CO (3-2), $^{12}$CO (3-2), HCO$^+$ (4-3), and H$^{13}$CO$^+$ (4-3) with the JCMT telescope to examine the role of the filamentary structures in the formation of dense cores in the clouds, with new distance estimates for L1544 ($175_{-3}^{+4}$ pc) and L694-2 ($203_{-7}^{+6}$ pc). From these observations, we found that the non-thermal velocity dispersion of two prestellar cores and their surrounding clouds are smaller than or comparable to the sound speed. This may indicate that the turbulence has already been dissipated for both filaments and cores during their formation time. We also found a $\lambda/4$ shift between the periodic oscillations in the velocity and the column density distributions implying the possible presence of gravitational core-forming flow motion along the axis of the filament. The mass accretion rates due to these flow motions are estimated to be 2-3 M$_\odot$ Myr$^{-1}$, being comparable to that for Serpens cloud but much smaller than those for the Hub filaments, cluster, or high mass forming filaments by 1 or 2 order of magnitudes. From this study, we suggest that the filaments in our targets might be formed from the shock-compression of colliding clouds, and then the cores are formed by gravitational fragmentation of the filaments to evolve to the prestellar stage. We conclude that the filamentary structures in the clouds play an important role in the entire process of formation of dense cores and their evolution., Comment: 30 pages, 22 figures, 6 tables, accepted for publication in ApJ

To understand the origin of the diversity observed in exoplanetary systems, it is crucial to characterize the early stages of their formation, represented by Solar-type protostars. Likely, the gaseous chemical content of these objects directly depends on the composition of the dust grain mantles formed before the collapse. Directly retrieving the ice mantle composition is challenging, but it can be done indirectly by observing the major components, such as NH3 and CH3OH at cm wavelengths, once they are released into the gas-phase during the warm protostellar stage. We observed several CH3OH and NH3 lines toward three Class 0 protostars in NGC1333 (IRAS 4A1, IRAS 4A2, and IRAS 4B), at high angular resolution (1"; ~300 au) with the VLA interferometer at 24-26 GHz. Using a non-LTE LVG analysis, we derived a similar NH3/CH3OH abundance ratio in the three protostars (<0.5, 0.015-0.5, and 0.003-0.3 for IRAS 4A1, 4A2, and 4B, respectively). Hence, we infer they were born from pre-collapse material with similar physical conditions. Comparing the observed abundance ratios with astrochemical model predictions, we constrained the dust temperature at the time of the mantle formation to be ~17 K, which coincides with the average temperature of the southern NGC 1333 diffuse cloud. We suggest that a brutal event started the collapse that eventually formed IRAS 4A1, 4A2 and 4B, which,therefore, did not experience the usual pre-stellar core phase. This event could be the clash of a bubble with NGC 1333 south, that has previously been evoked in the literature., Comment: accepted in ApJ Letters

Isotopologue abundance ratios are important to understand the evolution of astrophysical objects and ultimately the origins of a planetary system like our own. Being nitrogen a fundamental ingredient of pre-biotic material, understanding its chemistry and inheritance is of fundamental importance to understand the formation of the building blocks of life. We present here single-dish observations of the ground state rotational transitions of the $^{13}$C and $^{15}$N isotopologues of HCN, HNC and CN with the IRAM 30m telescope. We analyse their column densities and compute the $^{14}$N/$^{15}$N ratio map for HCN. The $^{15}$N-fractionation of CN and HNC is computed towards different offsets across L1544. The $^{15}$N-fractionation map of HCN shows a clear decrease of the $^{14}$N/$^{15}$N ratio towards the southern edge of L1544, where carbon chain molecules present a peak, strongly suggesting that isotope-selective photodissociation has a strong effect on the fractionation of nitrogen across pre-stellar cores. The $^{14}$N/$^{15}$N ratio in CN measured towards four positions across the core also shows a decrease towards the South-East of the core, while HNC shows opposite behaviour. The uneven illumination of the pre-stellar core L1544 provides clear evidence that $^{15}$N-fractionation of HCN and CN is enhanced toward the region more exposed to the interstellar radiation field. Isotope-selective photodissociation of N$_2$ is then a crucial process to understand $^{15}$N fractionation, as already found in protoplanetary disks. Therefore, the $^{15}$N-fractionation in pre-stellar material is expected to change depending on the environment within which pre-stellar cores are embedded. The $^{12}$CN/$^{13}$CN ratio also varies across the core, but its variation does not affect our conclusions on the effect of the environment on the fractionation of nitrogen., Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A Letters

Pre-stellar cores are the basic unit for the formation of stars and stellar systems. The anatomy of the physical and chemical structures of pre-stellar cores is critical for understanding the star formation process. L1544 is a prototypical pre-stellar core, which shows significant chemical differentiation surrounding the dust peak. We aim to constrain the physical conditions at the different molecular emission peaks. This study allows us to compare the abundance profiles predicted from chemical models together with the classical density structure of Bonnor-Ebert (BE) sphere. We conducted multi-transition pointed observations of CH$_{3}$OH, c-C$_{3}$H$_{2}$ and HNCO with the IRAM 30m telescope, towards the dust peak and the respective molecular peaks of L1544. With non-LTE radiative transfer calculations and a 1-dimensional model, we revisit the physical structure of L1544, and benchmark with the abundance profiles from current chemical models. We find that the HNCO, c-C$_{3}$H$_{2}$ and CH$_{3}$OH lines in L1544 are tracing progressively higher density gas, from $\sim$10$^{4}$ to several times 10$^{5}$ cm$^{-3}$. Particularly, we find that to produce the observed intensities and ratios of the CH$_{3}$OH lines, a local gas density enhancement upon the BE sphere is required. This suggests that the physical structure of an early-stage core may not necessarily follow a smooth decrease of gas density profile locally, but can be intercepted by clumpy substructures surrounding the gravitational center. Multiple transitions of molecular lines from different molecular species can provide a tomographic view of the density structure of pre-stellar cores. The local gas density enhancement deviating from the BE sphere may reflect the impact of accretion flows that appear asymmetric and are enhanced at the meeting point of large-scale cloud structures., Comment: accepted by A&A; 22 pages, 22 figures incl. appendices

Spectral lines of ammonia, NH$_3$, are useful probes of the physical conditions in dense molecular cloud cores. In addition to advantages in spectroscopy, ammonia has also been suggested to be resistant to freezing onto grain surfaces, which should make it a superior tool for studying the interior parts of cold, dense cores. Here we present high-resolution NH$_3$ observations with the Very Large Array (VLA) and Green Bank Telescope (GBT) towards a prestellar core. These observations show an outer region with a fractional NH$_3$ abundance of X(NH$_3$) = (1.975$\pm$0.005)$\times 10^{-8}$ ($\pm 10\%$ systematic), but it also reveals that after all, the X(NH$_3$) starts to decrease above a H$_2$ column density of $\approx 2.6 \times 10^{22}$ cm$^{-2}$. We derive a density model for the core and find that the break-point in the fractional abundance occurs at the density n(H$_2$) $\sim 2\times10^5$ cm$^{-3}$, and beyond this point the fractional abundance decreases with increasing density, following the power law $n^{-1.1}$. This power-law behavior is well reproduced by chemical models where adsorption onto grains dominates the removal of ammonia and related species from the gas at high densities. We suggest that the break-point density changes from core to core depending on the temperature and the grain properties, but that the depletion power law is anyway likely to be close to $n^{-1}$ owing to the dominance of accretion in the central parts of starless cores., Comment: Accepted for publication in AJ. 18 Pages, 16 Figures, 3 Tables