The large quantity and high quality of modern radio and infrared line observations require efficient modeling techniques to infer physical and chemical parameters such as temperature, density, and molecular abundances. We present a computer program to calculate the intensities of atomic and molecular lines produced in a uniform medium, based on statistical equilibrium calculations involving collisional and radiative processes and including radiation from background sources. Optical depth effects are treated with an escape probability method. The program is available on the World Wide Web at http://www.sron.rug.nl/~vdtak/radex/index.shtml . The program makes use of molecular data files maintained in the Leiden Atomic and Molecular Database (LAMDA), which will continue to be improved and expanded. The performance of the program is compared with more approximate and with more sophisticated methods. An Appendix provides diagnostic plots to estimate physical parameters from line intensity ratios of commonly observed molecules. This program should form an important tool in analyzing observations from current and future radio and infrared telescopes. Note: Accepted by AA 18 A4 pages, 11 figures;

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A computer program for fast non-LTE analysis of interstellar line spectra

Of the over 150 different molecular species detected in the interstellar and circumstellar media, approximately 50 contain 6 or more atoms. These molecules, labeled complex by astronomers if not by chemists, all contain the element carbon and so can be called organic. In the interstellar medium, complex molecules are detected in the denser sources only. Although, with one exception, complex molecules have only been detected in the gas phase, there is strong evidence that they can be formed in ice mantles on interstellar grains. The nature of the gaseous complex species depends dramatically on the source where they are found: in cold, dense regions they tend to be unsaturated (hydrogen-poor) and exotic, whereas in young stellar objects, they tend to be quite saturated (hydrogen-rich) and terrestrial in nature. Based on both their spectra and chemistry, complex molecules are excellent probes of the physical conditions and history of the sources where they reside. Because they are detected in young stellar objects, complex molecules are expected to be common ingredients for new planetary systems. In this review, we discuss both the observation and chemistry of complex molecules in assorted interstellar regions in the Milky Way.

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Complex Organic Interstellar Molecules

(Abridged) Studying continuum emission from interstellar dust is essential to locate and characterize the highest density regions in the interstellar medium. In particular, the early stages of massive star formation are still mysterious. Our goal is to produce a large scale, systematic database of massive pre- and proto-stellar clumps in the Galaxy, in order to better understand how and under what conditions star formation takes place. A well characterized sample of star-forming sites will deliver an evolutionary sequence and a mass function of high-mass star-forming clumps. Such a systematic survey at submm wavelengths also represents a pioneering work in preparation for Herschel and ALMA. The APEX telescope is ideally located to observe the inner Milky Way. The recently commissioned Large APEX Bolometer Camera (LABOCA) is a 295-element bolometer array observing at 870 microns, with a beam of 19". Taking advantage of its large field of view (11.4') and excellent sensitivity, we have started an unbiased survey of the Galactic Plane, with a noise level of 50-70 mJy/beam: the APEX Telescope Large Area Survey of the Galaxy (ATLASGAL). As a first step, we have covered 95 sq. deg. These data reveal 6000 compact sources brighter than 0.25 Jy, as well as extended structures, many of them filamentary. About two thirds of the compact sources have no bright infrared counterpart, and some of them are likely to correspond to the precursors of (high-mass) proto-stars or proto-clusters. Other compact sources harbor hot cores, compact HII regions or young embedded clusters. Assuming a typical distance of 5 kpc, most sources are clumps smaller than 1 pc with masses from a few 10 to a few 100 M_sun. In this introductory paper, we show preliminary results from these ongoing observations, and discuss the perspectives of the survey.

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ATLASGAL - The APEX Telescope Large Area Survey of the Galaxy at 870 microns

We develop the use of the population diagram method to analyze molecular emission in order to derive physical properties of interstellar clouds. We focus particular attention on how the optical depth affects the derived total column density and the temperature. We derive an optical depth correction factor that can be evaluated based on observations and that incorporates the effect of saturation on derived upper level populations. We present analytic results for linear molecules in local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE). We investigate numerically how subthermal excitation influences the population diagram technique, studying how the determination of kinetic temperature is affected when the local density is insufficient to achieve LTE. We present results for HC3N and CH3OH, representative of linear and nonlinear molecules, respectively. In some cases, alternative interpretations to the standard optically thin and thermalized picture yield significantly different results for column density and kinetic temperature, and we discuss this behavior. The population diagram method can be a very powerful tool for determining physical conditions in dense clouds if proper recognition is given to effects of saturation and subthermal excitation. We argue that the population diagram technique is, in fact, superior to fitting intensities of different transitions directly, and we indicate how it can be effectively employed.

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1086/307195/pdf

Population Diagram Analysis of Molecular Line Emission

▪ Abstract Outflow activity is associated with all stages of early stellar evolution, from deeply embedded protostellar objects to visible young stars. Herbig-Haro (HH) objects are the optical manifestations of this powerful mass loss. Analysis of HH flows, and in particular of the subset of highly collimated HH jets, provides indirect but important insights into the nature of the accretion and mass-loss processes that govern the formation of stars. The recent recognition that HH flows may attain parsec-scale dimensions opens up the possibility of partially reconstructing the mass-ejection history of the newly born driving sources and, therefore, their mass-accretion history. Furthermore, HH flows are astrophysical laboratories for the analysis of shock structures, of hydrodynamics in collimated flows, and of their interaction with the surrounding environment. HH flows may be an important source of turbulence in molecular clouds. Recent technological developments have enabled detailed observations of outf...

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HERBIG-HARO FLOWS: Probes of Early Stellar Evolution

Millimeter and submillimeter line surveys of the protobinary source IRAS 16293-2422 are presented in the 230 and 345 GHz windows. In total, 265 lines belonging to 44 molecules and their isotopomers (24 chemically different species) have been detected. Here the data for organic and deuterated molecules are considered; the results for Si- and S-bearing species have been discussed in an earlier paper (Blake et al. 1994). The observations have been analyzed through a combination of rotation diagrams and full statistical equilibrium/ radiative transfer calculations. At least three physically and chemically different components can be distinguished within the 20" (3000 AU) beam. The first component is the warm (T_(kin) ≳ 80 K) and dense [^n(H_2) ≍ (0.5-1) × 10^7 cm^(-3)] gas sampled by Si- and S-containing molecules such as SiO and SO_2. This gas is found to be rich in organic molecules such as CH_3OH, CH_3CN, and H_2CO, as well. It is only 3"-10" in size (500-1500 AU) and most likely represents the interaction of the bipolar outflow(s) with the circumbinary envelope. The second component is the circumbinary envelope itself, which has T_(kin) 40 K and n(H_2) 10^6-10^7 cm^(-3) and is 10"-15" in size (2000 AU). It contains common molecules like CS, HCO^+, and H_2CO. The third component is the colder, lower density outer part of the envelope, which gradually fades into the ambient surrounding cloud core [T_(kin) ≍ 10-20 K; n(H_2)≈(3 × 10^4)-(2 × 10^5) cm^(-3)]. Radicals such as CN, C_2H, and C_3H_2 appear to reside principally in this region. The ambient cloud material is also probed through self-absorbed features in the line profiles of molecules such as HCN, HCO^+, and H^2CO. Beam-averaged abundances over a 20" scale are presented and are compared with those observed in cold dark clouds such as L134N and TMC-1 and with high-mass star-forming cores such as Orion-KL. Remarkably high deuterium fractionation ratios are found, which are more characteristic of hot core regions than of cold, quiescent clouds. As a whole, the chemical and physical regimes that can be distinguished in the low-mass young stellar object IRAS 16293-2422 are qualitatively similar to those found in high-mass star-forming regions, confirming the earlier conclusion that the chemical composition depends more on the age of the object than its mass.

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Molecular Abundances and Low-Mass Star Formation. II. Organic and Deuterated Species toward IRAS 16293-2422

We present a high-sensitivity spectral line survey of the high-mass star-forming region Orion KL in the 325-360 GHz frequency band. The survey was conducted at the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory on Mauna Kea, Hawaii. The sensitivity achieved is typically 0.1-0.5 K and is limited mostly by the sideband separation method utilized. We find 717 resolvable features consisting of 1004 lines, among which 60 are unidentified. The identified lines are due to 34 species and various isotopomers. Most of the unidentified lines are weak, and many of them most likely due to isotopomers or vibrationally or torsionally excited states of known species with unknown line frequencies, but a few reach the 2-5 K level. No new species have been identified, but we were able to strengthen evidence for the identification of ethanol in Orion and found the first nitrogen sulfide line in this source. The molecule dominating the integrated line emission is SO_2, which emits twice the intensity of CO, followed by SO, which is only slightly stronger than CO. In contrast, the largest number of lines is emitted from heavy organic rotors like HCOOCH_3, CH_3CH_2CN, and CH_3OCH_3, but their contribution to the total flux is unimportant. CH_3OH is also very prominent, both in the number of lines and in integrated flux. An interesting detail of this survey is the first detection of vibrationally excited HCN in the v_2 = 2 state, 2000 K above ground. Clearly this is a glimpse into the very inner part of the Orion hot core.

http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1086/312948/pdf

A Line Survey of Orion KL from 325 to 360 GHz

Molecular line surveys and fully sampled spectral line maps at 1.3 and 0.87 mm are used to examine the
physical and chemical characteristics of the extreme Class I sources IRAS 4A and 4B in the L1450/NGC 1333
molecular cloud complex. A very well collimated, jetlike molecular outflow emanates from IRAS 4A, with a
dynamical age of a few thousand years. Symmetric, clumpy structure along the outflow lobes suggests that
there is considerable variability in the mass-loss rate or wind velocity even at this young age. Molecular emission
lines toward IRAS 4A and 4B are observed to be weak in the velocity range corresponding to quiescent
material surrounding the young stellar objects (YSOs). Depletion factors of 10-20 are observed for αll molecules,
including CO, even for very conservative mass estimates from the measured millimeter and submillimeter
dust continuum. However, abundances scaled with respect to CO are similar to other dark
molecular cloud cores. Such depletions could be mimicked by high dust optical depths or increased grain
emissivities at the observing frequencies of 230 and 345 GHz, but the millimeter and submillimeter spectral
energy distributions suggest that this is unlikely over the single-dish size scales of 5000-10,000 AU.
Dense, outflowing gas is found to be kinematically, but not spatially, distinct from the quiescent material on
these size scales. If CO is used as a chemical standard for the high-velocity gas, we find substantial enhancements
in the abundances of several molecules in outflowing material, most notably CS, SiO, and CH_30H. The
SiO emission is kinematically well displaced from the bulk cloud velocity and likely arises from directly
shocked material. As is the case for CO, however, the outflow features from more volatile species are centered
near the cloud velocity and are often characterized by quite low rotational temperatures. We suggest that
grain-grain collisions induced by velocity shear zones surrounding the outflow axes transiently desorb the
grain mantles, resulting in large abundance enhancements of selected species. Similar results have recently
been obtained in several other low-mass YSOs, where the outflowing gas is often both kinematically and spatially
distinct, and are illustrative of the ability of accretion and outflow processes to simultaneously modify
the composition of the gas and dust surrounding young stars.

A molecular line study of NGC 1333 IRAS 4

We have conducted a spectral line survey of IRC + 10216 using the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory to an
average sensitivity of ≾95 mK. A deconvolution algorithm has been used to derive the continuous single-sideband
spectrum from 330.2 to 358.1 GHz. A total of 56 spectral lines were detected of which 54 have been identified
with 8 molecules and a total of 18 isotopomers. The observed lines are used to derive column densities and relative abundances for the detected species. Within this frequency range the spectral lines detected contribute the majority of the total flux emitted by IRC + 10216. We use the derived column densities and excitation temperatures to
simulate the molecular line emission (assuming LTE) at frequencies up to 1000 GHz. The observed and simulated
flux from line emission is compared to broadband total flux measurements and to dust emission assuming a power-law variation of the dust emissivity. We conclude that significant corrections for the line flux must be made
to broadband flux measurements of IRC + 10216 at wavelengths longer than ~750 µm.

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The molecular emission-line spectrum of IRC +10216 between 330 and 358 GHz

Submillimeter observations of SO 2 , CH 3 OH and H 2 CO towards three positions in the W3 star-forming molecular cloud (IRS4, IRS5 and W3(H 2 O)) are presented. Significant differences in the physical and chemical conditions between the three sources are found. The gas temperature appears highest with T≃220 K towards W3(H 2 O), followed by T≃100 K towards IRS5 and T≃55 K towards IRS4. Densities are 10 6 cm −3 or larger. The chemical composition of W3(H 2 O) with strong CH 3 OH lines resembles that of a hot core type region. In contrast, W3 IRS5 appears at an earlier evolutionary stage where complex molecules are still depleted onto grains, but where energetic events have produced strong SO 2 emission. W3 IRS4 is the most evolved region with a chemistry similar to that found in quiescent molecular clouds

T. D. Groesbeck

Papers

Molecular Abundances and Low-Mass Star Formation. II. Organic and Deuterated Species toward IRAS 16293-2422

A Line Survey of Orion KL from 325 to 360 GHz

A molecular line study of NGC 1333 IRAS 4

The molecular emission-line spectrum of IRC +10216 between 330 and 358 GHz

Physical and chemical variations within the W3 star-forming region. I. SO2, CH3OH and H2CO.