Detection of Two Interstellar Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons via Spectral Matched Filtering

Abstract

Ubiquitous unidentified infrared emission bands are seen in many astronomical sources. Although these bands are widely, if not unanimously, attributed to the collective emission from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, no single species from this class has been detected in space. We present the discovery of two -CN functionalized polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, 1- and 2-cyanonaphthalene, in the interstellar medium aided by spectral matched filtering. Using radio observations with the Green Bank Telescope, we observe both bi-cyclic ring molecules in the molecular cloud TMC-1. We discuss potential in situ gas-phase formation pathways from smaller organic precursor molecules.

References in corpus (10)

• Formation and destruction of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon clusters in the interstellar medium
• A New Reference Chemical Composition for TMC-1
• Improving and Assessing Planet Sensitivity of the GPI Exoplanet Survey with a Forward Model Matched Filter
• Early Science from GOTHAM: Project Overview, Methods, and the Detection of Interstellar Propargyl Cyanide (HCCCH${}_2$CN) in TMC-1
• An unbiased ALMA spectral survey of the LkCa 15 and MWC 480 protoplanetary disks
• Non-Detection of HC${}_{11}$N toward TMC-1: Constraining the Chemistry of Large Carbon-Chain Molecules
• Detection of Interstellar HC${}_4$NC and an Investigation of Isocyanopolyyne Chemistry under TMC-1 Conditions
• Isomers in Interstellar Environments (I): The Case of Z- and E-Cyanomethanimine
• Discovery of CCS Velocity-Coherent Substructures in the Taurus Molecular Cloud 1
• Detection of ${}^{13}C$ Isotopic Species of $H{C}_{7}N$

Cited by in corpus (39)

• Discovery of the Pure Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Indene ($c$-C${}_9$H${}_8$) with GOTHAM Observations of TMC-1
• Discovery of benzyne, o-C6H4, in TMC-1 with the QUIJOTE line survey
• Discovery of Interstellar 2-Cyanoindene (2-C${}_9$H${}_7$CN) in GOTHAM Observations of TMC-1
• Discovery of two isomers of ethynyl cyclopentadiene in TMC-1: Abundances of CCH and CN derivatives of hydrocarbon cycles
• Discovery of fulvenallene in TMC-1 with the QUIJOTE line survey
• Discovery of two cyano derivatives of acenaphthylene (C${}_{12}$H${}_8$) in TMC-1 with the QUIJOTE line survey
• Astronomical Detection of the Interstellar Anion C10H- towards TMC-1 from the GOTHAM Large Program on the GBT
• The Mystery of Unidentified Infrared Emission Bands
• The Role of Acetylene in the Chemical Evolution of Carbon Complexity
• Aromatic cycles are widespread in cold clouds
• Discovery of HCCCO and C5O in TMC-1 with the QUIJOTE line survey
• Detection of the propargyl radical at lambda 3 mm
• The spatial distribution of an aromatic molecule, C6H5CN, in the cold dark cloud TMC-1
• Discovery of a new molecular ion, HC7NH+, in TMC-1
• Machine Learning of Interstellar Chemical Inventories
• Theoretical study of infrared spectra of interstellar PAH molecules with N, NH & NH${}_2$ incorporation
• Laboratory and astronomical discovery of cyanothioketene, NCCHCS, in the cold starless core TMC-1
• Rotational spectra of interstellar N- and CN-PAHs: pyrene and coronene
• Multiply charged naphthalene and its C10H8 isomers: bonding, spectroscopy and implications in AGN environments
• Hydrogenation of small aromatic heterocycles at low temperatures
• Discovery of Interstellar trans-cyanovinylacetylene (HCCCH=CHCN) and vinylcyanoacetylene (H${}_2$C=CHC${}_3$N) in GOTHAM Observations of TMC-1
• Discovery of CH3CHCO in TMC-1 with the QUIJOTE line survey
• Intermediate-size fullerenes as degradation products of interstellar PAHs
• Deuterated Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in the Interstellar Medium: The C--D Band Strengths of Multi-Deuterated Species
• Low temperature formation of pyridine and (iso)quinoline via neutral neutral reactions
• Astrochemical model to study the abundances of branched carbon-chain molecules in a hot molecular core with realistic binding energies
• The emergence of interstellar molecular complexity explained by interacting networks
• Formation of c-C6H5CN ice using the SPACE TIGER experimental setup
• Spectral variations among different scenarios of PAH processing or formation
• Machine-learning identified molecular fragments responsible for infrared emission features of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
• Photofragmentation of Corannulene (C20H10) and Sumanene (C21H12) cations in gas phase and its Astrophysical implications
• The spatially resolved PAH characteristics in the Whirlpool Galaxy (M51a)
• Chemical variations across the TMC-1 boundary: molecular tracers from translucent phase to dense phase
• Laser-induced fragmentation of coronene cations
• Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and the ionized gas
• CN and CCH derivatives of ethylene and ethane: Confirmation of the detection of CH${}_3$CH${}_2$CCH in TMC-1
• Photocleavage of aliphatic C--C bonds in the interstellar medium
• On the spectroscopy of phosphaalkynes: Millimeter- and submillimeter wave study of C2H5CP
• The SKA as a prebiotic molecule detector