papers

Publications (50)

astro-ph.SR2026

A tale of two isotopes: Spatial variation in HCN fractionation toward young cores

Sigurd S. Jensen, Silvia Spezzano, Olli Sipilä +3

The paper maps H13CN and HC15N in several young starless and pre‑stellar cores, finds that their column density ratio varies spatially and correlates with H2 column density, and sh…

#isotopic fractionation#pre‑stellar cores#star formation#HCN isotopologues
astro-ph.SR2026

Chemical Complexity in the Early Stages of Star Formation in the SKAO Era

Eleonora Bianchi, Mathilde Bouvier, Claudio Codella +44

About 350 molecules have been identified in the interstellar medium (ISM), including complex molecules relevant to prebiotic chemistry. A remarkable level of molecular diversity ha…

astro-ph.GA2025

Circum-nuclear eccentric gas flow in the Galactic Center revealed by ALMA CMZ Exploration Survey (ACES)

Yoshiaki Sofue, Tomoharu Oka, Steven N. Longmore +41

We analyze the CS (J=2-1) line cube from the internal data release obtained by the large-scale program "ALMA CMZ Exploration Survey (ACES)" to investigate the kinematic structure o…

astro-ph.GA2025

On the abiotic origin of dimethyl sulfide: discovery of DMS in the Interstellar Medium

Miguel Sanz-Novo, Víctor M. Rivilla, Christian P. Endres +14

Following the discovery of dimethyl sulfide (CHSCH, DMS) signatures in comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, we report the first detection of this organosulfur species in the in…

astro-ph.GA2025

Mass Assembly and Chemical Complexity in the Milky Way

Pamela Klaassen, David Eden, Alessio Traficante +13

(Sub-)millimeter spectral lines can be used not only to understand the chemical complexity and enrichment history of an observed portion of our Galaxy, but with spectrally resolved…

astro-ph.GA2023

H2CN/H2NC abundance ratio: a new potential temperature tracer for the interstellar medium

David San Andrés, Laura Colzi, Víctor M. Rivilla +7

The radical is the high-energy metastable isomer of radical, which has been recently detected for the first time in the interstellar medium towards a ha…

astro-ph.GA2022

Energizing Star Formation: The Cosmic Ray Ionization Rate in NGC 253 Derived From ALCHEMI Measurements of HO and SO

Jonathan Holdship, Jeffrey G. Mangum, Serena Viti +16

The cosmic ray ionization rate (CRIR) is a key parameter in understanding the physical and chemical processes in the interstellar medium. Cosmic rays are a significant source of en…

astro-ph.GA2025

ACES: The Magnetic Field in Large Filaments in the Galactic Center

Dylan M. Paré, Zi-Xuan Feng, Yue Hu +33

The Galactic Center (GC) is an extreme region of the Milky Way that is host to a complex set of thermal and non-thermal structures. In particular, the GC contains high-density gas…

astro-ph.GA2024

ATOMS: ALMA Three-millimeter Observations of Massive Star-forming regions -- XIX. The origin of SiO emission

Rong Liu, Tie Liu, Izaskun Jiménez-Serra +23

The production of silicon monoxide (SiO) can be considered as a fingerprint of shock interaction. In this work, we use high-sensitivity observations of the SiO (2-1) and HCO…

astro-ph.GA2021

Thiols in the ISM: first detection of HC(O)SH and confirmation of CHSH

Lucas F. Rodríguez-Almeida, Izaskun Jiménez-Serra, Víctor M. Rivilla +8

The chemical compounds carrying the thiol group (-SH) have been considered essential in recent prebiotic studies regarding the polymerization of amino acids. We have searched for t…

astro-ph.GA2026

Detection of a four-carbon sugar in interstellar space

Izaskun Jimenez-Serra, Juan Garcia de la Concepcion, Herma M. Cuppen +19

Sugars are essential biomolecules, serving as metabolic fuels, nucleic acid backbone components, and structural or energy-storage polymers. A central question in origin-of-life res…

astro-ph.GA2026

ALMA Central molecular zone Exploration Survey (ACES) III: Molecular line data reduction and HNCO and HCO data

Daniel L. Walker, Adam Ginsburg, Ashley T. Barnes +64

The ALMA Central molecular zone Exploration Survey (ACES) large program has observed the inner ~ 200 pc of the Milky Way at 3 mm (Band 3) using ALMA's 12m, 7m, and Total Power arra…

astro-ph.GA2023

A sequential acid-base (SAB) mechanism in the interstellar medium: The emergence of cis formic acid in dark molecular clouds

Juan García de la Concepción, Izaskun Jiménez-Serra, José Carlos Corchado +5

The abundance ratios between isomers of a COM observed in the ISM provides valuable information about the chemistry and physics of the gas and eventually, the history of molecular…

astro-ph.GA2023

First glycine isomer detected in the interstellar medium: glycolamide (NHC(O)CHOH)

Víctor M. Rivilla, Miguel Sanz-Novo, Izaskun Jiménez-Serra +13

We report the first detection in the interstellar medium of a CHON isomer: -glycolamide (NHC(O)CHOH). The exquisite sensitivity at sub-mK levels of an ultr…

astro-ph.GA2024

Interstellar detection of O-protonated carbonyl sulfide, HOCS+

Miguel Sanz-Novo, Víctor M. Rivilla, Izaskun Jiménez-Serra +12

We present the first detection in space of O-protonated carbonyl sulfide (\ch{HOCS+}), in the midst of an ultradeep molecular line survey toward the G+0.693-0.027 molecular cloud.…

astro-ph.GA2023

Kinematics of Galactic Centre clouds shaped by shear-seeded solenoidal turbulence

Maya A. Petkova, J. M. Diederik Kruijssen, Jonathan D. Henshaw +17

The Central Molecular Zone (CMZ; the central ~ 500 pc of the Galaxy) is a kinematically unusual environment relative to the Galactic disc, with high velocity dispersions and a stee…

astro-ph.GA2026

A detection of sulfur-bearing cyclic hydrocarbons in space

Mitsunori Araki, Miguel Sanz-Novo, Christian P. Endres +13

Molecules harbouring sulfur are thought to have played a key role in the biological processes of life on Earth, and thus, they are of much interest when found in space. Here we rep…

astro-ph.GA2024

Neural Network Constraints on the Cosmic-Ray Ionization Rate and Other Physical Conditions in NGC 253 with ALCHEMI Measurements of HCN and HNC

Erica Behrens, Jeffrey G. Mangum, Serena Viti +15

We use a neural network model and ALMA observations of HCN and HNC to constrain the physical conditions, most notably the cosmic-ray ionization rate (CRIR, zeta), in the Central Mo…

astro-ph.GA2022

Ionise hard: interstellar PO detection

Víctor M. Rivilla, Juan García de la Concepción, Izaskun Jiménez-Serra +13

We report the first detection of the phosphorus monoxide ion (PO) in the interstellar medium. Our unbiased and very sensitive spectral survey towards the G+0.6930.027 mole…

astro-ph.IM2024

The Wide-field Spectroscopic Telescope (WST) Science White Paper

Vincenzo Mainieri, Richard I. Anderson, Jarle Brinchmann +214

The Wide-field Spectroscopic Telescope (WST) is proposed as a new facility dedicated to the efficient delivery of spectroscopic surveys. This white paper summarises the initial con…

astro-ph.GA2025

Spatially-resolved spectro-photometric SED Modeling of NGC 253's Central Molecular Zone I. Studying the star formation in extragalactic giant molecular clouds

Pedro K. Humire, Subhrata Dey, Tommaso Ronconi +29

Studying the interstellar medium in nearby starbursts is essential for understanding the physical mechanisms driving these objects, thought to resemble young star-forming galaxies.…

astro-ph.GA2026

ALMA Central Molecular Zone Exploration Survey (ACES) I: Overview

Steven N. Longmore, John Bally, Ashley T. Barnes +95

The mass flows and energy cycles within the inner regions of galaxies exert a powerful influence on the evolution of the galaxy population. The centre of the Milky Way is the only…

astro-ph.GA2021

Discovery in space of ethanolamine, the simplest phospholipid head group

Víctor M. Rivilla, Izaskun Jiménez-Serra, Jesús Martín-Pintado +9

Cell membranes are a key element of life because they keep the genetic material and metabolic machinery together. All present cell membranes are made of phospholipids, yet the natu…

astro-ph.GA2026

ALMA Central Molecular Zone Exploration Survey (ACES) II: 3mm continuum images

Adam Ginsburg, Daniel L. Walker, Ashley T. Barnes +69

The ALMA Central Molecular Zone Exploration Survey, ACES, has mapped square arcminutes at 3 mm toward the center of our Galaxy. ACES provides the first large-scale, h…

astro-ph.GA2024

Discovery of thionylimide, HNSO, in space: the first N-, S- and O-bearing interstellar molecule

Miguel Sanz-Novo, Víctor M. Rivilla, Holger S. P. Müller +12

We present the first detection in space of thionylimide (HNSO) toward the Galactic Center molecular cloud G+0.693-0.027, thanks to the superb sensitivity of an ultradeep molecular…

astro-ph.GA2022

Precursors of fatty alcohols in the ISM: Discovery of n-propanol

Izaskun Jimenez-Serra, Lucas F. Rodriguez-Almeida, Jesus Martin-Pintado +12

Theories on the origins of life propose that early cell membranes were synthesized from amphiphilic molecules simpler than phospholipids such as fatty alcohols. The discovery in th…

astro-ph.GA2026

ALMA Central molecular zone Exploration Survey (ACES) V: CS(2-1), SO(2_3-1_2), CH3CHO(5_1,4-4_1,3), HC3N(11-10), and H40a lines data

Pei-Ying Hsieh, Daniel L. Walker, Adam Ginsburg +59

We present data from the ALMA Central Molecular Zone Exploration Survey (ACES) Large Program, which provides broad spectral-line and 3 mm continuum coverage of the Central Molecula…

astro-ph.GA2024

The ALCHEMI atlas: principal component analysis reveals starburst evolution in NGC 253

Nanase Harada, David S. Meier, Sergio Martín +24

Molecular lines are powerful diagnostics of the physical and chemical properties of the interstellar medium (ISM). These ISM properties, which affect future star formation, are exp…

astro-ph.GA2025

The role of supernova remnants for the emergence of pre-biotic chemistry in molecular clouds

Giuliana Cosentino, Izaskun Jiménez-Serra, Laura Colzi +11

There is growing evidence that the Sun might have formed within a nebula impacted by at least one SNR. In this scenario, ejecta and shocks from SNRs may have provided the elements…

astro-ph.GA2024

First detection in space of the high-energy isomer of cyanomethanimine: H2CNCN

David San Andrés, Víctor M. Rivilla, Laura Colzi +14

We report the first detection in the interstellar medium of -cyanomethanimine (HCNCN), the stable dimer of HCN of highest energy, and the most complex organic molecule ident…

astro-ph.GA2022

Molecular precursors of the RNA-world in space: new nitriles in the G+0.693-0.027 molecular cloud

Víctor M. Rivilla, Izaskun Jiménez-Serra, Jesus Martín-Pintado +10

Nitriles play a key role as molecular precursors in prebiotic experiments based on the RNA-world scenario for the origin of life. These chemical compounds could have been partially…

astro-ph.GA2025

Rotation and stability of the circumnuclear gas disk in the Galactic Center potential by the ALMA CMZ Exploration Survey (ACES)

Yoshiaki Sofue, Steven N. Longmore, Daniel Walker +26

We investigated the gravitational potential and mass distribution in the Galactic Center by examining the morphology and kinematics of the circumnuclear gaseous disk revealed by th…

astro-ph.GA2021

Starburst Energy Feedback Seen Through HCO/HOC Emission in NGC 253 from ALCHEMI

Nanase Harada, Sergio Martín, Jeffrey G. Mangum +19

Molecular abundances are sensitive to UV-photon flux and cosmic-ray ionization rate. In starburst environments, the effects of high-energy photons and particles are expected to be…

astro-ph.GA2026

ALMA Central molecular zone Exploration Survey (ACES) VI: ALMA Large Program Reveals a Highly Filamentary Central Molecular Zone

Cara Battersby, Miriam G. Santa-Maria, Dani Lipman +44

The Central Molecular Zone (CMZ) of the Milky Way is the way station that primarily controls how much gas flows from the disk of the Galaxy towards the central nucleus. While this…

astro-ph.GA2024

A new measurement of the Galactic C/C gradient from sensitive HCO absorption observations

Gan Luo, Laura Colzi, Tie Liu +4

We present a new constraint on the Galactic C/C gradient with sensitive HCO absorption observations against strong continuum sources. The new measurements suffer…

astro-ph.GA2024

Physical Properties of the Southwest Outflow Streamer in the Starburst Galaxy NGC 253 with ALCHEMI

Min Bao, Nanase Harada, Kotaro Kohno +19

The physical properties of galactic molecular outflows are important as they could constrain outflow formation mechanisms. We study the properties of the southwest (SW) outflow str…

astro-ph.GA2022

Tracing Interstellar Heating: An ALCHEMI Measurement of the HCN Isomers in NGC 253

Erica Behrens, Jeffrey G. Mangum, Jonathan Holdship +17

We analyze HCN and HNC emission in the nearby starburst galaxy NGC 253 to investigate its effectiveness in tracing heating processes associated with star formation. This study uses…

astro-ph.GA2023

Discovery of the elusive carbonic acid (HOCOOH) in space

Miguel Sanz-Novo, Víctor M. Rivilla, Izaskun Jiménez-Serra +12

After a quarter century since the detection of the last interstellar carboxylic acid, acetic acid (CHCOOH), we report the discovery of a new one, the cis-trans form of carbonic…

astro-ph.GA2021

Probing the chemical complexity of amines in the ISM: detection of vinylamine (CHNH) and tentative detection of ethylamine (CHNH)

Shaoshan Zeng, Izaskun Jiménez-Serra, Víctor M. Rivilla +8

Amines, in particular primary amines (R-NH) are closely related to the primordial synthesis of amino acids since they share the same structural backbone. However, only limited…

astro-ph.GA2026

ALMA Central Molecular Zone Exploration Survey (ACES)-IV. Data of the two intermediate-width spectral windows

Xing Lu, Daniel L. Walker, Adam Ginsburg +61

We release the intermediate-width spectral window data from the ALMA Central Molecular Zone Exploration Survey (ACES) Large Program, which covers SiO(2-1), SO(2_2-1_1), H13CO+(1-0)…

astro-ph.GA2023

Volume density structure of the NGC253 CMZ through ALCHEMI excitation analysis

Kunihiko Tanaka, Jeffrey G. Mangum, Serena Viti +21

We present a spatially-resolved excitation analysis for the central molecular zone (CMZ) of the starburst galaxy NGC 253 using the data from the ALMA Large program ALCHEMI, whereby…

astro-ph.GA2022

Precursors of the RNA-world in space: Detection of ()-1,2-ethenediol in the interstellar medium, a key intermediate in sugar formation

Víctor M. Rivilla, Laura Colzi, Izaskun Jiménez-Serra +20

We present the first detection of ()-1,2-ethenediol, (CHOH), the enol form of glycolaldehyde, in the interstellar medium towards the G+0.693-0.027 molecular cloud located in…

astro-ph.GA2022

ALCHEMI finds a "shocking" carbon footprint in the starburst galaxy NGC~253

Nanase Harada, Sergio Martin, Jeff Mangum +15

Centers of starburst galaxies may be characterized by a specific gas and ice chemistry due to their gas dynamics and the presence of various ice desorption mechanisms. This may res…

astro-ph.IM2025

The Emergence of Prebiotic Chemistry in the ISM

Izaskun Jimenez-Serra, Giuliana Cosentino, Francisco Montenegro-Montes +22

Contrary to popular belief, the interstellar medium (ISM) is not empty; it is filled with atoms, dust particles, and molecules. Some of these molecules may have been the very build…

astro-ph.GA2024

Components of star formation in NGC 253 : Non-negative Matrix Factorization Analysis with the ALCHEMI integrated intensity images

Ryo Kishikawa, Nanase Harada, Toshiki Saito +12

It is essential to examine the physical or chemical properties of molecular gas in starburst galaxies to reveal the underlying mechanisms characterizing starbursts. We used non-neg…

astro-ph.GA2024

A broad linewidth, compact, millimeter-bright molecular emission line source near the Galactic Center

Adam Ginsburg, John Bally, Ashley T. Barnes +37

A compact source, G0.02467-0.0727, was detected in ALMA \threemm observations in continuum and very broad line emission. The continuum emission has a spectral index ,…

astro-ph.GA2025

Chemical templates of the Central Molecular Zone. Shock and protostellar object signatures under Galactic Center conditions

Katarzyna M. Dutkowska, Gijs Vermariën, Serena Viti +21

(Abridged) The Central Molecular Zone (CMZ) of the Milky Way exhibits extreme conditions, including high gas densities, elevated temperatures, enhanced cosmic-ray ionization rates,…

astro-ph.GA2025

Nonthermal Pressures: Key to Energy Balance and Structure Formation Near Sgr A* in the Milky Way

Farideh Mazoochi, Fatemeh S. Tabatabaei, Ashley T. Barnes +14

The circumnuclear region of the Galactic Center offers a unique laboratory to study energy balance and structure formation around Sgr A. This work investigates thermal and n…

astro-ph.GA2026

Unveiling the 3D structure of the central molecular zone from stellar kinematics and photometry: The 50 and 20 km/s clouds

Francisco Nogueras-Lara, Ashley T. Barnes, Jonathan D. Henshaw +25

The central molecular zone (CMZ), surrounding the Galactic centre, is the largest reservoir of dense molecular gas in the Galaxy. Despite its relative proximity, the 3D structure o…

astro-ph.IM2025

Measuring metal sulfides in interstellar dust with PRIMA

Izaskun Jiménez-Serra, Shaoshan Zeng, Yao-Lun Yang +5

Sulfur is known to undergo severe depletion when moving from diffuse clouds to the denser regimes of the interstellar medium in molecular clouds. The form in which sulfur gets depl…