Abundances of HCN and HNC in dark cloud cores

TLDR: In this article, the abundances of HCN and HNC toward 19 nearby dark cloud cores by observations of optically thin H13CN and HN13C (J = 1-0) lines were determined.

Abstract: We have determined the abundances of HCN and HNC toward 19 nearby dark cloud cores by observations of optically thin H13CN (J = 1-0) and HN13C (J = 1-0) lines. The column density of HCN is found to be correlated with that of HNC. The abundance ratio of [HNC]/[HCN] is determined to be 0.54-4.5 in the observed dark cloud cores. These results are consistent with the idea that HCN and HNC are produced mainly by a recombination reaction of HCNH+ with electrons in dark cloud cores. Furthermore, the [HNC]/[HCN] ratio does not show any significant differences between star-forming cores and starless cores. The HCN and HNC abundances are compared with those for the OMC-1 cores previously reported. Although the abundances of HCN in the OMC-1 cores are comparable to those in the dark cloud cores, the abundances of HNC in OMC-1 are 1-2 orders of magnitude less than those in dark cloud cores. It is suggested that HNC is destroyed by neutral-neutral reactions in high kinetic temperature regions.