MOLECULES IN {eta} CARINAE
- Max-Planck Institut fuer Radioastronomie, Auf dem Huegel 69, 53121 Bonn (Germany)
- Centro de Radioastronomia y Astrofisica, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Apartado Postal 3-72, 58090 Morelia, Michoacan (Mexico)
We report the detection toward {eta} Carinae of six new molecules, CO, CN, HCO{sup +}, HCN, HNC, and N{sub 2}H{sup +}, and of two of their less abundant isotopic counterparts, {sup 13}CO and H{sup 13}CN. The line profiles are moderately broad ({approx}100 km s{sup -1}), indicating that the emission originates in the dense, possibly clumpy, central arcsecond of the Homunculus Nebula. Contrary to previous claims, CO and HCO{sup +} do not appear to be underabundant in {eta} Carinae. On the other hand, molecules containing nitrogen or the {sup 13}C isotope of carbon are overabundant by about one order of magnitude. This demonstrates that, together with the dust responsible for the dimming of {eta} Carinae following the Great Eruption, the molecules detected here must have formed in situ out of CNO-processed stellar material.
- OSTI ID:
- 22047927
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal Letters, Vol. 749, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 2041-8205
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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