Observations of non complex organic molecules in the gas phase of the interstellar medium

TL;DR

This paper reviews recent advances in astrochemistry, focusing on the detection of simple non-complex organic molecules in the gas phase of the interstellar medium using radio and submillimeter observations.

Contribution

It provides an overview of detection techniques, abundance determination methods, and comparisons with chemical models for simple molecules in space.

Findings

Detection of about 330 molecular species in space.

Advances in radio telescope sensitivity and bandwidth.

Progress in understanding molecular abundances and chemistry in the interstellar medium.

Abstract

The field of astrochemistry has seen major advances triggered by the completion of new powerful radio telescopes, with gains in sensitivity of receivers and in bandwidth. To date, about 330 molecular species are detected, in interstellar clouds, circumstellar shells and even extragalactic sources. The first interstellar molecules were first discovered through their electronic transitions in the visual and near UV regions of the spectra in the 1930s. Then the discovery of (pure) rotational transitions of interstellar molecules dates back to the late 1960s. The improvement of detectors and the increase in telescope sizes really opened up the submillimeter sky. The radio and submillimeter ranges cover the lowest rotational lines of molecular species. The bigger the molecule, the more spectral lines at different frequencies it produces, with weaker line intensities. Over the past 30 years, we have discovered that we live in a molecular universe, where molecules are abundant and widespread, probing the structure and evolution of galaxies, as well as the temperature and density of the observed medium, opening a new field called astrochemistry. The progress has been dramatic, since the discovery of the first molecules about 100 years ago. We present in this review, the detection techniques that led to the discovery of the simple molecules in the gas phase and the methodology that lead to the abundances determinations and the comparison with chemical modelling.