Study of carbon chain molecules in the ISM is of great importance owing to the ubiquity of these molecules and their potential role as the building block of larger molecules or as products of photo-destruction of larger molecules. However the formation mechanism of even the simplest linear carbon chain molecule is still not well understood. The isotopic abundance ratio of C3/13CCC is believed to be an important probe for the chemical routes for the formation of C3, which involve C+. Using HIFI/Herschel C3 has for the first time been detected in the warm envelopes of hot star forming cores (Mookerjea et al. 2010). This has provided access to a much larger column density of C3 than was previously possible with optical and/or mid-infrared studies of C3 in diffuse clouds. The larger column density of C3 implies a higher probability of detecting its rarer isotopologue 13CCC. This detection coupled with the recent success of the Cologne spectroscopy group in identifying the 13CCC molecule in the laboratory and accurate determination of frequencies of several nu2 bending mode ro-vibrational transitions in the far-infrared has set the stage for a search for 13CCC in the interstellar space. We propose to obtain deep integrations of the brightest of the spectral lines for 13CCC towards two very strong continuum sources in both of which C3 has already been clearly seen in absorption.
Publication
Instrument
HIFI_HifiPoint_dbs
Temporal Coverage
2012-05-03T15:00:52Z/2012-10-04T10:17:54Z
Version
SPG v14.1.0
Mission Description
Herschel was launched on 14 May 2009! It is the fourth cornerstone mission in the ESA science programme. With a 3.5 m Cassegrain telescope it is the largest space telescope ever launched. It is performing photometry and spectroscopy in approximately the 55-671 µm range, bridging the gap between earlier infrared space missions and groundbased facilities.
European Space Agency, giesen et al., 2013, 'Detection of 13CCC in star forming regions', SPG v14.1.0, European Space Agency, https://doi.org/10.5270/esa-mmum96v
