Determination of the ortho to para ratio of H2Cl+ and H2O+ from submillimeter observations.

The opening of the submillimeter sky with the Herschel Space Observatory has led to the detection of new interstellar molecular ions, H2O(+), H2Cl(+), and HCl(+), which are important intermediates in the synthesis of water vapor and hydrogen chloride. In this paper, we report new observations of H2O(+) and H2Cl(+) performed with both Herschel and ground-based telescopes, to determine the abundances of their ortho and para forms separately and derive the ortho-to-para ratio. At the achieved signal-to-noise ratio, the observations are consistent with an ortho-to-para ratios of 3 for both H2O(+) and H2Cl(+), in all velocity components detected along the lines-of-sight to the massive star-forming regions W31C and W49N. We discuss the mechanisms that contribute to establishing the observed ortho-to-para ratio and point to the need for a better understanding of chemical reactions, which are important for establishing the H2O(+) and H2Cl(+) ortho-to-para ratios.