Ground-state ammonia and water in absorption towards Sgr B2
Journal article, 2010

Context. Observations of transitions to the ground-state of a molecule are essential to obtain a complete picture of its excitation and chemistry in the interstellar medium, especially in diffuse and/or cold environments. For the important interstellar molecules H2O and NH3, these ground-state transitions are heavily absorbed by the terrestrial atmosphere, hence not observable from the ground. Aims: We attempt to understand the chemistry of nitrogen, oxygen, and their important molecular forms, NH3 and H2O in the interstellar medium of the Galaxy. Methods: We have used the Odin* submillimetre-wave satellite telescope to observe the ground state transitions of ortho-ammonia and ortho-water, including their 15N, 18O, and 17O isotopologues, towards Sgr B2. The extensive simultaneous velocity coverage of the observations, >500 km s-1, ensures that we can probe the conditions of both the warm, dense gas of the molecular cloud Sgr B2 near the Galactic centre, and the more diffuse gas in the Galactic disk clouds along the line-of-sight. Results: We present ground-state NH3 absorption in seven distinct velocity features along the line-of-sight towards Sgr B2. We find a nearly linear correlation between the column densities of NH3 and CS, and a square-root relation to N2H+. The ammonia abundance in these diffuse Galactic disk clouds is estimated to be about 0.5–1 × 10-8, similar to that observed for diffuse clouds in the outer Galaxy. On the basis of the detection of H_218O absorption in the 3 kpc arm, and the absence of such a feature in the H_217O spectrum, we conclude that the water abundance is around 10-7, compared to ~10-8 for NH3. The Sgr B2 molecular cloud itself is seen in absorption in NH3, 15NH3, H2O, H_218O, and H_217O, with emission superimposed on the absorption in the main isotopologues. The non-LTE excitation of NH3 in the environment of Sgr B2 can be explained without invoking an unusually hot (500 K) molecular layer. A hot layer is similarly not required to explain the line profiles of the 11,0≥ts10,1 transition from H2O and its isotopologues. The relatively weak 15NH3 absorption in the Sgr B2 molecular cloud indicates a high [ 14N/15N] isotopic ratio >600. The abundance ratio of H_218O and H_217O is found to be relatively low, 2.5–3. These results together indicate that the dominant nucleosynthesis process in the Galactic centre is CNO hydrogen burning. Odin is a Swedish-led satellite project funded jointly by the Swedish National Space Board (SNSB), the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), the National Technology Agency of Finland (Tekes), and the centre National d'Études Spatiales (CNES, France). The Swedish Space Corporation (SSC) was the industrial prime contractor and is also responsible for the satellite operation.

astrochemistry

interstellar matter

Milky Way Galaxy

Author

Eva Wirström

Chalmers, Department of Radio and Space Science, Radio Astronomy and Astrophysics

Per Bergman

Chalmers, Department of Radio and Space Science, National Facility for Radio Astronomy

John H Black

Chalmers, Department of Radio and Space Science, Radio Astronomy and Astrophysics

Åke Hjalmarson

Chalmers, Department of Radio and Space Science, Radio Astronomy and Astrophysics

B. Larsson

Stockholm Observatory

Henrik Olofsson

Chalmers, Earth and Space Sciences, Onsala Space Observatory

P. J. Encrenaz

LERMA - Laboratoire d'Etudes du Rayonnement et de la Matiere en Astrophysique et Atmospheres

E. Falgarone

Ecole Normale Superieure (ENS)

U. Frisk

Swedish Space Corporation (SSC)

Michael Olberg

Chalmers, Department of Radio and Space Science, National Facility for Radio Astronomy

A. Sandqvist

Stockholm Observatory

Astronomy and Astrophysics

0004-6361 (ISSN) 1432-0746 (eISSN)

Vol. 522 1 A19, 1-9 A19

Subject Categories

Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology

DOI

10.1051/0004-6361/200913766

More information

Latest update

5/25/2018