Upper limit for the D2H+ ortho-to-para ratio in the prestellar core 16293E (CHESS)

TL;DR

This study sets an upper limit on the ortho-to-para ratio of D2H+ in a prestellar core, using Herschel observations and chemical modeling, revealing constraints on temperature, density, and molecular ratios in star-forming regions.

Contribution

It provides the first observational upper limit on the ortho-to-para D2H+ ratio in a prestellar core, combining non-detections with chemical modeling to inform astrochemical conditions.

Findings

Ortho-D2H+ line not detected at 1476.6 GHz.

Upper limit on ortho-to-para D2H+ ratio is 6 to 9.

High CO depletion (>100) and low temperature (~11 K) are consistent with observations.

Abstract

The H3+ ion plays a key role in the chemistry of dense interstellar gas clouds where stars and planets are forming. The low temperatures and high extinctions of such clouds make direct observations of H3+ impossible, but lead to large abundances of H2D+ and D2H+, which are very useful probes of the early stages of star and planet formation. The ground-state rotational ortho-D2H+ 111-000 transition at 1476.6 GHz in the prestellar core 16293E has been searched for with the Herschel/HIFI instrument, within the CHESS (Chemical HErschel Surveys of Star forming regions) Key Program. The line has not been detected at the 21 mK km/s level (3 sigma integrated line intensity). We used the ortho-H2D+ 110-111 transition and para-D2H+ 110-101 transition detected in this source to determine an upper limit on the ortho-to-para D2H+ ratio as well as the para-D2H+/ortho-H2D+ ratio from a non-LTE analysis. The comparison between our chemical modeling and the observations suggests that the CO depletion must be high (larger than 100), with a density between 5e5 and 1e6 cm-3. Also the upper limit on the ortho-D2H+ line is consistent with a low gas temperature (~ 11 K) with a ortho-to-para ratio of 6 to 9, i.e. 2 to 3 times higher than the value estimated from the chemical modeling, making it impossible to detect this high frequency transition with the present state of the art receivers.