THE HCN/HNC ABUNDANCE RATIO TOWARD DIFFERENT EVOLUTIONARY PHASES OF MASSIVE STAR FORMATION

Journal Article · Mon Jul 20 04:00:00 EDT 2015 · Astrophysical Journal, Supplement Series

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0067-0049/219/1/2· OSTI ID:22520183

Jin, Mihwa; Lee, Jeong-Eun ^[1]; Kim, Kee-Tae ^[2]

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1. School of Space Research, Kyung Hee University, Yongin-Si, Gyeonggi-Do 446-701 (Korea, Republic of)
2. Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute, 776 Daedeokdae-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-348 (Korea, Republic of)

Using the H{sup 13}CN and HN{sup 13}C J = 1–0 line observations, the abundance ratio of HCN/HNC has been estimated for different evolutionary stages of massive star formation: infrared dark clouds (IRDCs), high-mass protostellar objects (HMPOs), and ultracompact H ii regions (UCH iis). IRDCs were divided into “quiescent IRDC cores (qIRDCc)” and “active IRDC cores (aIRDCc),” depending on star formation activity. The HCN/HNC ratio is known to be higher at active and high temperature regions related to ongoing star formation, compared to cold and quiescent regions. Our observations toward 8 qIRDCc, 16 aIRDCc, 23 HMPOs, and 31 UCH iis show consistent results; the ratio is 0.97 (±0.10), 2.65 (±0.88), 4.17 (±1.03), and 8.96 (±3.32) in these respective evolutionary stages, increasing from qIRDCc to UCH iis. The change of the HCN/HNC abundance ratio, therefore, seems directly associated with the evolutionary stages of star formation, which have different temperatures. One suggested explanation for this trend is the conversion of HNC to HCN, which occurs effectively at higher temperatures. To test the explanation, we performed a simple chemical model calculation. In order to fit the observed results, the energy barrier of the conversion must be much lower than the value provided by theoretical calculations.

• OSTI ID: 22520183
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Supplement Series, Journal Name: Astrophysical Journal, Supplement Series Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 219; ISSN 0067-0049; ISSN APJSA2
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
CARBON 13
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
HYDROCYANIC ACID
MASS
PROTOSTARS
STAR EVOLUTION
STARS