• DOI:10.1088/0004-637X/775/2/133
• Corpus ID: 101534384

LABORATORY AND ASTRONOMICAL DISCOVERY OF HYDROMAGNESIUM ISOCYANIDE

@article{Cabezas2013LABORATORYAA,
  title={LABORATORY AND ASTRONOMICAL DISCOVERY OF HYDROMAGNESIUM ISOCYANIDE},
  author={Carlos Cabezas and Jos{\'e} Cernicharo and J. L. Alonso and Marcelino Ag{\'u}ndez and Santiago Mata and M. Gu{\'e}lin and Isabel Pe{\~n}a},
  journal={The Astrophysical Journal},
  year={2013},
  volume={775}
}

• C. Cabezas, J. Cernicharo, +4 authors I. Peña
• Published 2 September 2013
• Physics
• The Astrophysical Journal

We report on the detection of hydromagnesium isocyanide, HMgNC, in the laboratory and in the carbon-rich evolved star IRC+10216. The J = 1–0 and J = 2–1 lines were observed in our microwave laboratory equipment in Valladolid with a spectral accuracy of 3 KHz. The hyperfine structure produced by the nitrogen atom was resolved for both transitions. The derived rotational constants from the laboratory data are B0 = 5481.4333(6) MHz, D0 = 2.90(8) KHz, and eQq(N) = −2.200(2) MHz. The predicted frequencies for the rotational transitions of HMgNC in the millimeter domain have an accuracy of 0.2–0.7 MHz. Four rotational lines of this species, J = 8–7, J = 10–9, J = 12–11, and J = 13–12, have been detected toward IRC+10216. The differences between observed and calculated frequencies are <0.5 MHz. The rotational constants derived from space frequencies are B0 = 5481.49(3) MHz and D0 = 3.2(1) KHz, i.e., identical to the laboratory ones. A merged fit to the laboratory and space frequencies provides B0 = 5481.4336(4) MHz and D0 = 2.94(5) KHz. We have derived a column density for HMgNC of (6 ± 2) × 1011 cm−2. From the observed line profiles the molecules have to be produced in the layer where other metal-isocyanides have been already found in this source. The abundance ratio between MgNC and its hydrogenated variety, HMgNC, is ≃20.