The complex organic molecular content in the L1498 starless core

TL;DR

This study investigates the distribution of complex organic molecules in the L1498 starless core, revealing similarities and differences with the L1544 core, and suggests that core evolution influences chemical composition.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed comparison of complex organic molecules in L1498 with L1544, highlighting how physical structure and evolutionary stage affect molecular abundance.

Findings

Small O- and N-bearing molecules are enhanced in the outer shell of L1498.

Large O-bearing organics are not detected in L1498 within sensitivity limits.

N-bearing organics are more abundant in L1498's outer shell than in L1544.

Abstract

Observations carried out toward starless and pre-stellar cores have revealed that complex organic molecules are prevalent in these objects, but it is unclear what chemical processes are involved in their formation. Recently, it has been shown that complex organics are preferentially produced at an intermediate-density shell within the L1544 pre-stellar core at radial distances of ~4000 au with respect to the core center. However, the spatial distribution of complex organics has only been inferred toward this core and it remains unknown whether these species present a similar behaviour in other cores. We report high-sensitivity observations carried out toward two positions in the L1498 pre-stellar core, the dust peak and a position located at a distance of ~11000 au from the center of the core where the emission of CH$_3$OH peaks. Similarly to L1544, our observations reveal that small O-bearing molecules and N-bearing species are enhanced by factors ~4-14 toward the outer shell of L1498. However, unlike L1544, large O-bearing organics such as CH3CHO, CH3OCH3 or CH3OCHO are not detected within our sensitivity limits. For N-bearing organics, these species are more abundant toward the outer shell of the L1498 pre-stellar core than toward the one in L1544. We propose that the differences observed between O-bearing and N-bearing species in L1498 and L1544 are due to the different physical structure of these cores, which in turn is a consequence of their evolutionary stage, with L1498 being younger than L1544.