Structure and Chemistry in the Hot Molecular Core G34.3+0.15

Abstract

New multifrequency spatial and spectral studies of the hot molecular core associated with the ultracompact HIT region G34.3+0.15 have demonstrated an extremely rich chemistry in this archetypal hot core and revealed differing spatiql structure between certain species which may be a dynamical effect of chemical evolution. The structure of the hot core has been studied with the JCMT in the high excitation J=19-18 and J=18-17 lines of CH₃CN and with the Nobeyama Millimetre Array at 4“ arc resolution in the J=6-5 transition. Comparison with a VLA NH3(3,3) map shows a displacement between peak emission in the two chemical species which is consistent with chemical processing on a time scale comparable to the dynamical time scale of ≃10⁵ yrs.

A 330-360 GHz spectral survey of the hot core with the JCMT has detected 358 spectral lines from at least 46 distinct chemical species, including many typical of shocked chemistry while other species indicate abundances that reflect the chemistry of a previous cold phase. The first unambiguous detection of ethanol in hot gas has been made. Observations of 14 rotational transitions of this molecule yield a temperature of 125 K and column density ≃2 x 10¹⁵ cm^-2. This large abundance cannot be made by purely gas-phase processes and it is concluded that ethanol must have formed by grain surface chemistry.