Detection of a new interstellar molecule, H2CN

Area of Science:

• Astrochemistry
• Interstellar Medium Research
• Molecular Astronomy

Background:

• The chemical complexity of cold, dark molecular clouds is not fully understood.
• Identifying new molecules provides insights into interstellar chemical pathways.
• Previous searches for nitrogen-bearing molecules have been limited.

Purpose of the Study:

• To detect and characterize new interstellar molecules.
• To investigate the abundance and formation of methylene amidogen (H2CN).
• To explore potential new chemical families in interstellar clouds.

Main Methods:

• Radioastronomical observations targeting specific molecular transitions.
• Spectral line analysis to identify and confirm molecular signals.
• Abundance and excitation temperature estimations based on observed line intensities.

Main Results:

• Confirmed detection of methylene amidogen (H2CN) in the TMC-1 molecular cloud.
• Estimated H2CN column density of ~1.5 x 10^11 cm^-2 at 5 K.
• Tentative detection of H2CN in the Sgr B2(N) region.
• H2CN fractional abundance is ~1.5 x 10^-11, significantly lower than HCN.

Conclusions:

• The discovery of H2CN expands the known inventory of interstellar molecules.
• The formation pathways of H2CN in cold clouds warrant further investigation.
• This detection may indicate the existence of a new class of interstellar carbon-chain molecules (CH2CnN).