ATOMS: ALMA Three-millimeter Observations of Massive Star-forming regions -- X. Chemical differentiation among the massive cores in G9.62+0.19

TL;DR

This study uses ALMA observations to analyze the chemical and physical structures of six dense cores in the G9.62+0.19 star-forming region, revealing chemical differentiation and molecular formation pathways.

Contribution

It provides detailed molecular line surveys and modeling of six cores, highlighting chemical differentiation and potential molecular precursors in massive star formation.

Findings

MM4 is rich in oxygen-bearing molecules

MM8 shows dominance of nitrogen-bearing molecules

Different formation mechanisms for HC3N and HC5N in hot and cold regions

Abstract

Investigating the physical and chemical structures of massive star-forming regions is critical for understanding the formation and the early evolution of massive stars. We performed a detailed line survey toward six dense cores named as MM1, MM4, MM6, MM7, MM8, and MM11 in G9.62+0.19 star-forming region resolved in ALMA band 3 observations. Toward these cores, about 172 transitions have been identified and attributed to 16 species including organic Oxygen-, Nitrogen-, Sulfur-bearing molecules and their isotopologues. Four dense cores MM7, MM8, MM4, and MM11 are line rich sources. Modeling of these spectral lines reveals the rotational temperature in a range of 72$-$115~K, 100$-$163~K, 102$-$204~K, and 84$-$123~K for the MM7, MM8, MM4, and MM11, respectively. The molecular column densities are 1.6 $\times$ 10$^{15}$ $-$ 9.2 $\times$ 10$^{17}$~cm$^{-2}$ toward the four cores. The cores MM8 and MM4 show chemical difference between Oxygen- and Nitrogen-bearing species, i.e., MM4 is rich in oxygen-bearing molecules while nitrogen-bearing molecules especially vibrationally excited HC$_{3}$N lines are mainly observed in MM8. The distinct initial temperature at accretion phase may lead to this N/O differentiation. Through analyzing column densities and spatial distributions of O-bearing Complex Organic Molecules (COMs), we found that C$_{2}$H$_{5}$OH and CH$_{3}$OCH$_{3}$ might have a common precursor, CH$_{3}$OH. CH$_{3}$OCHO and CH$_{3}$OCH$_{3}$ are likely chemically linked. In addition, the observed variation in HC$_{3}$N and HC$_{5}$N emission may indicate that their different formation mechanism at hot and cold regions.