Molecular evolution throughout planetary system formation: from molecular clouds to comets
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Stars and planets are born within dense regions of molecular clouds, which contain a rich chemical reservoir of molecules. Some of them have a high prebiotic interest, and they could have been delivered through meteorites and comets that were formed in the parental molecular cloud of our Solar System. We study the chemical evolution throughout planetary system formation, from molecular clouds in extragalactic and galactic environments to star forming regions and comets. We use data from two ALMA Large Programs consisting of unbiased spectral surveys, GUAPOS (G31.41+0.31 Unbiased ALMA sPectral Observational Survey, P.I. Maite Beltrán) and ALCHEMI (ALMA Comprehensive High-resolution Extragalactic Molecular Inventory, P.I. Sergio Martín). The GUAPOS project targets the high-mass star-forming region, G31.41+0.31 (G31 hereafter) which is one of the most chemically rich sources in our Galaxy and its associated chemically rich shocked region. The ALCHEMI project targets the starburst nearby galaxy NGC 253, in whose central molecular zone we study 4 molecular clouds. We perform a comparative study using dozens of molecules detected in both NGC 253 and G31 to evaluate the molecular evolution in the first two stages of a planetary system formation. The results from these sources are put into context by comparing the molecular abundances with other sources in different stages such as the Solar-like protostar IRAS 16293-2422B and two comets (67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko and 46P/Wirtanen).
Author: Álvaro, López-Gallifa
Language: English
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7087568532
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