Laboratory And Astronomical Detection Of The Negative Molecular Ion C3N-

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Date

2008-04

Authors

Thaddeus, P.
Gottlieb, C. A.
Gupta, H.
Brunken, S.
McCarthy, M. C.
Agundez, M.
Guelin, M.
Cernicharo, J.

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Abstract

The negative molecular ion C3N- has been detected at millimeter wavelengths in a low-pressure laboratory discharge, and then with frequencies derived from the laboratory data in the molecular envelope of IRC+10216. Spectroscopic constants derived from laboratory measurements of 12 transitions between 97 and 378 GHz allow the rotational spectrum to be calculated well into the submillimeter-wave band to 0.03 km s(-1) or better in equivalent radial velocity. Four transitions of C3N- were detected in IRC+10216 with the IRAM 30 m telescope at precisely the frequencies calculated from the laboratory measurements. The column density of C3N- is 0.5% that of C3N, or approximately 20 times greater than that of C4H- relative to C4H. The C3N- abundance in IRC+10216 is compared with a chemical model calculation by Petrie & Herbst. An upper limit in TMC-1 for C3N- relative to C3N (< 0.8%) and a limit for C4H- relative to C4H (< 0.004%) that is 5 times lower than that found in IRC+10216, were obtained from observations with the NRAO 100 m Green Bank Telescope (GBT). The fairly high concentration of

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Thaddeus, P., C. A. Gottlieb, H. Gupta, S. Br�nken, M. C. McCarthy, M. Ag�ndez, M. Gu�lin, and J. Cernicharo. "Laboratory and astronomical detection of the negative molecular ion C3N?." The Astrophysical Journalm, Vol. 677, No. 2 (Apr., 2008): 1132.