Abundances of HCN and HNC in the Red MSX Sources

  • Published : 2010.04.06

Abstract

We have studied the abundance ratio of HNC and HCN toward the Red MSX Sources (RMS) using HCN (J=1-0), HNC (J=1-0), $H^{13}CN$ (J=1-0), $HN^{13}C$ (J=1-0),and $N_2H^+$ (J=1-0) lines observed with the Mopra 22 m radio telescope. The RMS are massive young stellar objects identified by the MSX satellite data combined with the 2MASS data. HCN and HNC (a geometrical isomer of HCN) are among the most basic interstellar molecules. According to our analysis, the column density of HCN is found to be correlated with that of HNC. Additionally, the [HNC]/[HCN] abundance ratio is sensitive to the core temperature because HNC is depleted in high temperature regions. This result is consistent with the previous results seen in low mass starless or protostellar cores.

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