NITRIC-OXIDE IN STAR-FORMING REGIONS - FURTHER EVIDENCE FOR INTERSTELLAR N-O BONDS

Publication Date

1991

Journal or Book Title

ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL

Abstract

Nitric oxide has been newly detected toward several star-forming clouds, including Orion-KL, Sgr B2(N), W33A, W51M, and DR21(OH) via its J = 3/2-1/2 transitions near 150 GHz, using the FCRAO 14 m telescope. Both lambda-doubling components of NO were observed toward all sources. Column densities derived for nitric oxide in these clouds are 10 to the 15th-10 to the 16th/sq cm, corresponding to fractional abundances of 0.5-1.0 x 10 to the -8th, relative to H2. Toward Orion-KL, the NO line profile suggests that the species arises primarily from hot, dense gas. Nitric oxide may arise from warm material toward the other clouds as well. Nitric oxide in star-forming regions could be synthesized by high-temperature reactions, although the observed abundances do not disagree with values predicted from low-temperature, ion-molecule chemistry by more than one order of magnitude.

Comments

The published version is located at http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1991ApJ...373..535Z

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1086/170072

Pages

535-542

Volume

373

Issue

2

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