Discovery of the first Ca-bearing molecule in space: CaNC

Abstract

We report on the detection of calcium isocyanide, CaNC, in the carbon-rich evolved star IRC+10216. We derived a column density for this species of (2.0$\pm$0.5)$\times$10${}^{11}$ cm${}^{-2}$. Based on the observed line profiles and the modelling of its emission through the envelope, the molecule has to be produced in the intermediate and outer layers of the circumstellar envelope where other metal-isocyanides have previously been found in this source. The abundance ratio of CaNC relative to MgNC and FeCN is $\simeq$1/60 and $\simeq$1, respectively. We searched for the species CaF, CaCl, CaC, CaCCH, and CaCH${}_3$ for which accurate frequency predictions are available. Only upper limits have been obtained for these molecules.

arXiv comment5 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication in A&A

References in corpus (18)

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• Si-bearing molecules towards IRC+10216: ALMA unveils the molecular envelope of CWLeo
• An independent distance estimate to CW Leo
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• IRC +10 216 in 3-D: morphology of a TP-AGB star envelope
• High-J v=0 SiS Maser Emission in IRC+10216: A New Case of Infrared Overlaps
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• The magnesium paradigm in IRC+10216: Discovery of MgC${}_4$H${}^{+}$, MgC${}_3$N${}^{+}$, MgC${}_6$H${}^{+}$, and MgC${}_5$N${}^{+}$
• Magnesium radicals MgC${}_5$N and MgC${}_6$H in IRC+10216
• Exploring molecular complexity with ALMA (EMoCA): Complex isocyanides in Sgr B2(N)
• Discovery of two metallic cyanoacetylides in IRC+10216: HMgCCCN and NaCCCN
• Multi-frequency high spectral resolution observations of HCN toward the circumstellar envelope of Y CVn
• A quest for sulfur-bearing refractory species. Identification of CaS in the interstellar medium
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