Sulfur-bearing species in molecular clouds

TL;DR

This study investigates sulfur-bearing molecules in space, calculating their infrared spectra to identify potential carriers of unidentified spectral features in various astronomical objects.

Contribution

It introduces new sulfur molecules and provides their infrared spectra, suggesting their possible presence in space and explaining unidentified spectral features.

Findings

Calculated infrared spectra for several sulfur molecules.

Proposed identification of molecules responsible for unidentified IR features.

Suggested presence of these molecules in various galaxies and star-forming regions.

Abstract

We study several molecules that could help in the solution of the missing sulfur problem in dense clouds and circumstellar regions, as well as in the clarification of the sulfur chemistry in comets. These sulfur molecules are: the trimer (CH2S)3 and the tetramer (CH2S)4 of thioformaldehyde, pentathian S5CH2, hexathiepan S6CH2, thiirane C2H4S, trisulfane HSSSH, and thioacetone (CH3)2CS. Infrared spectra of these species are calculated using density functional theory methods. The majority of calculated bands belong to the mid-infrared, with some of them occurring in the near and far-infrared region. We suggest that some of unidentified spectral features measured by Infrared Space Observatory in several active galactic nuclei and starburst galaxies could be caused by 1,3,5-trithiane ((CH2S)3), 1,3,5,7-tetrathiocane ((CH2S)4), and thiirane (C2H4S). The objects whose unidentified infrared features we compare with calculated bands are: NGC 253, M82, NGC 1068, Circinus, Arp 220, 30 Doradus, Orion KL, and Sgr B2.