Status Report

The ALMA-PILS survey: The sulphur connection between protostars and comets: IRAS 16293-2422 B and 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

By SpaceRef Editor
February 13, 2018
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Maria N. Drozdovskaya, Ewine F. van Dishoeck, Jes K. Jørgensen, Ursina Calmonte, Matthijs H. D. van der Wiel, Audrey Coutens, Hannah Calcutt, Holger S. P. Müller, Per Bjerkeli, Magnus V. Persson, Susanne F. Wampfler, Kathrin Altwegg
(Submitted on 8 Feb 2018)

The evolutionary past of our Solar System can be pieced together by comparing analogous low-mass protostars with remnants of our Protosolar Nebula – comets. Sulphur-bearing molecules may be unique tracers of the joint evolution of the volatile and refractory components. ALMA Band 7 data from the large unbiased Protostellar Interferometric Line Survey (PILS) are used to search for S-bearing molecules in the outer disc-like structure, 60 au from IRAS 16293-2422 B, and are compared with data on 67P/C-G stemming from the ROSINA instrument aboard Rosetta. Species such as SO$_{2}$, SO, OCS, CS, H$_{2}$CS, H$_{2}$S and CH$_{3}$SH are detected via at least one of their isotopologues towards IRAS 16293-2422 B. The search reveals a first-time detection of OC$^{33}$S towards this source and a tentative first-time detection of C$^{36}$S towards a low-mass protostar. The data show that IRAS 16293-2422 B contains much more OCS than H$_{2}$S in comparison to 67P/C-G; meanwhile, the SO/SO$_{2}$ ratio is in close agreement between the two targets. IRAS 16293-2422 B has a CH$_{3}$SH/H$_{2}$CS ratio in range of that of our Solar System (differences by a factor of 0.7-5.3). It is suggested that the levels of UV radiation during the initial collapse of the systems may have varied and have potentially been higher for IRAS 16293-2422 B due to its binary nature; thereby, converting more H$_{2}$S into OCS. It remains to be conclusively tested if this also promotes the formation of S-bearing complex organics. Elevated UV levels of IRAS 16293-2422 B and a warmer birth cloud of our Solar System may jointly explain the variations between the two low-mass systems.

Comments:    Accepted for publication in MNRAS; 47 pages, 43 figures, 6 tables
Subjects:    Solar and Stellar Astrophysics (astro-ph.SR); Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP); Astrophysics of Galaxies (astro-ph.GA)
Cite as:    arXiv:1802.02977 [astro-ph.SR] (or arXiv:1802.02977v1 [astro-ph.SR] for this version)
Submission history
From: Maria Drozdovskaya 
[v1] Thu, 8 Feb 2018 17:38:48 GMT (606kb)
https://arxiv.org/abs/1802.02977
Astrochemistry

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