Detection of interstellar hydrogen peroxide [Letter]

Bergman, P., Parise, Berengere, Liseau, R., Larsson, B., Olofsson, H., Menten, K. M. and Güsten, R. 2011. Detection of interstellar hydrogen peroxide [Letter]. Astronomy and Astrophysics 531 , L8. 10.1051/0004-6361/201117170

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Abstract

Context. The molecular species hydrogen peroxide, HOOH, is likely to be a key ingredient in the oxygen and water chemistry in the interstellar medium. Aims. Our aim with this investigation is to determine how abundant HOOH is in the cloud core ρ Oph A. Methods. By observing several transitions of HOOH in the (sub)millimeter regime we seek to identify the molecule and also to determine the excitation conditions through a multilevel excitation analysis. Results. We have detected three spectral lines toward the SM1 position of ρ Oph A at velocity-corrected frequencies that coincide very closely with those measured from laboratory spectroscopy of HOOH. A fourth line was detected at the 4σ level. We also found through mapping observations that the HOOH emission extends (about 0.05 pc) over the densest part of the ρ Oph A cloud core. We derive an abundance of HOOH relative to that of H2 in the SM1 core of about 1 × 10-10. Conclusions. To our knowledge, this is the first reported detection of HOOH in the interstellar medium.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Physics and Astronomy
Subjects:	Q Science > QB Astronomy
Uncontrolled Keywords:	astrochemistry ; ISM: abundances ; ISM: individual objects:ρ Oph A ; ISM: molecules
Additional Information:	Pdf uploaded in accordance with publisher's policy at http://www.sherpa.ac.uk/romeo/issn/0004-6361/ (accessed 16/04/2014)
Publisher:	EDP Sciences
ISSN:	0004-6361
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	30 March 2016
Last Modified:	16 May 2023 00:47
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/52776

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