Molecular absorption and emission bands dominate the visible, infrared, and submillimeter
spectra of most objects with associated gas. These observations reveal a surprisingly rich …

Our main knowledge about astrophysical environments relies on radiative spectra.
Absorption studies require background sources that are located hapharzadly in …

Interstellar hydrides—that is, molecules containing a single heavy element atom with one or
more hydrogen atoms—were among the first molecules detected outside the solar system …

Nitrogen, amongst the most abundant metals in the interstellar medium, has a peculiar
chemistry that differs from those of carbon and oxygen. Recent observations of several …

Aims. The HIFI instrument onboard Herschel has allowed high spectral resolution and
sensitive observations of ground-state transitions of three molecular ions: the methylidyne …

Ultraviolet (UV) ice photodesorption is an important non-thermal desorption pathway in
many interstellar environments that has been invoked to explain observations of cold …

The interdisciplinary science of astrochemistry is 45 years of age, if we pinpoint its origin to
have occurred when the first polyatomic molecules were detected in the interstellar gas …

We have used the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment 12 m telescope (APEX) to carry out an
absorption study of submillimeter wavelength rotational ground-state lines of H 35 Cl, H 37 …

Nitrogen-bearing species are common tracers of the physical conditions in a wide variety of
objects, and most remarkably, in dark clouds. The reservoir of gaseous nitrogen is expected …

Aims. The comparative study of several molecular species at the origin of the gas phase
chemistry in the diffuse interstellar medium (ISM) is a key input in unraveling the coupled …