SPECTROSCOPIC CONSTANTS AND VIBRATIONAL FREQUENCIES FOR l-C{sub 3}H{sup +} AND ISOTOPOLOGUES FROM HIGHLY ACCURATE QUARTIC FORCE FIELDS: THE DETECTION OF l-C{sub 3}H{sup +} IN THE HORSEHEAD NEBULA PDR QUESTIONED
- SETI Institute, 189 Bernardo Avenue, Suite 100, Mountain View, CA 94043 (United States)
Very recently, molecular rotational transitions observed in the photon-dominated region of the Horsehead nebula have been attributed to l-C{sub 3}H{sup +}. In an effort to corroborate this finding, we employed state-of-the-art and proven high-accuracy quantum chemical techniques to compute spectroscopic constants for this cation and its isotopologues. Even though the B rotational constant from the fit of the observed spectrum and our computations agree to within 20 MHz, a typical level of accuracy, the D rotational constant differs by more than 40%, while the H rotational constant differs by three orders of magnitude. With the likely errors in the rotational transition energies resulting from this difference in D on the order of 1 MHz for the lowest observed transition (J = 4 {yields} 3) and growing as J increases, the assignment of the observed rotational lines from the Horsehead nebula to l-C{sub 3}H{sup +} is questionable.
- OSTI ID:
- 22130675
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal Letters, Vol. 768, Issue 2; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 2041-8205
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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