Ice chemistry in starless molecular cores

TL;DR

This study models ice chemistry in starless cores, highlighting the importance of ice-depth, photodesorption, and surface reactions in forming complex organic molecules, with implications for core lifetimes and molecular abundances.

Contribution

It introduces a three-phase model considering ice-depth and surface chemistry, providing new insights into molecular formation and desorption mechanisms in starless cores.

Findings

Ice-depth dimension is crucial for accurate chemistry modeling.

Photodesorption influences the abundance of surface-synthesized species.

Reproduced observed COM abundances with specific sublimation scenarios.

Abstract

Starless molecular cores are natural laboratories for interstellar molecular chemistry research. The chemistry of ices in such objects was investigated with a three-phase (gas, surface, and mantle) model. We considered the center part of five starless cores, with their physical conditions derived from observations. The ice chemistry of oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur, and complex organic molecules (COMs) was analyzed. We found that an ice-depth dimension, measured, e.g., in monolayers, is essential for modeling of chemistry in interstellar ices. Particularly, the H2O:CO:CO2:N2:NH3 ice abundance ratio regulates the production and destruction of minor species. It is suggested that photodesorption during core collapse period is responsible for high abundance of interstellar H2O2 and O2H, and other species synthesized on the surface. The calculated abundances of COMs in ice were compared to observed gas-phase values. Smaller activation barriers for CO and H2CO hydrogenation may help explain the production of a number of COMs. The observed abundance of methyl formate HCOOCH3 could be reproduced with a 1kyr, 20K temperature spike. Possible desorption mechanisms, relevant for COMs, are gas turbulence (ice exposure to interstellar photons) or a weak shock within the cloud core (grain collisions). To reproduce the observed COM abundances with the present 0D model, 1-10% of ice mass needs to be sublimated. We estimate that the lifetime for starless cores likely does not exceed 1Myr. Taurus cores are likely to be younger than their counterparts in most other clouds.