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DETECTION OF A NEW INTERSTELLAR MOLECULE, H(2)CN
ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL
  • M OHISHI
  • D MCGONAGLE
  • William M. Irvine, University of Massachusetts - Amherst
  • S YAMAMOTO
  • S SAITO
Publication Date
1994
Abstract

We have detected a new interstellar molecule, H2CN (methylene amidogen), in the cold, dark molecular cloud TMC-1. The column density of H2CN is estimated to be approximately 1.5 x 1011 cm-2 by assuming an excitation temperature of 5 K. This column density corresponds to a fractional abundance relative to H2 of approximately 1.5 x 10-11. This value is more than three orders of magnitude less than the abundance of the related molecule HCN in TMC-1. We also report a tentative detection of H2CN in Sgr B2(N). The formation mechanism of H2CN is discussed. Our detection of the N2CN molecule may suggest the existence of a new series of carbon-chain molecules, CH2C(n)N (N = 0, 1, 2, ...).

Comments

The published version is located at http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1994ApJ...427L..51O

Pages
L51-L54
Citation Information
M OHISHI, D MCGONAGLE, William M. Irvine, S YAMAMOTO, et al.. "DETECTION OF A NEW INTERSTELLAR MOLECULE, H(2)CN" ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL Vol. 427 Iss. 1 (1994)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/wirvine/69/