NASA Logo

NTRS

NTRS - NASA Technical Reports Server

Collections About News Help Login
Back to Results
A Sensitive VLA Search for Small-Scale Glycine Emission Toward OMC-1We have conducted a deep Q-band (lambda-7 mm) search with the Very Large Array (VLA) toward OMC-1 for the lowest energy conformation (conformer I) of glycine (NH2CH2COOH) in four rotational transitions: the 6(sub 15)- 5(sub 14), 6(sub 24)-5(sub 23), 7(sub 17- 6(sub 16), and 7(sub 07)-6(sub 06). Our VLA observations sample the smallest-scale structures to date in the search for glycine toward OMC-1. No glycine emission features were detected. Thus if glycine exists in OMC-1, either it is below our detection limit, or it is more spatially extended than other large molecules in this source, or it is primarily in its high energy form (conformer II). Our VLA glycine fractional abundance limits in OMC-1 are comparable to those determined from previous IRAM 30m measurements -- somewhat better or worse depending on the specific source model -- and the entire approximately 1 foot primary beam of the VLA was searched while sensitive to an areal spatial scale approximately 150 times smaller than the 24 inch beam of the IRAM single-element telescope. In the course of this work, we detected and imaged the 4(sub 14)-3(sub 13) A and E transitions of methyl formate (HCOOCH3) and also the 2(sub 02) - 1(sub 01) transition of formic acid (HCOOH). Since formic acid is a possible precursor to glycine, our glycine limits and formic acid results provide a constraint on this potential formation chemistry route for glycine in OMC-1.
Document ID
20030025446
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Preprint (Draft being sent to journal)
Authors
Hollis, J. M. (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Pedelty, J. A. (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Snyder, L. E. (Illinois Univ. Urbana, IL, United States)
Jewell, P. R. (National Radio Astronomy Observatory Green Bank, WV, United States)
Lovas, F. J. (Illinois Univ. Urbana, IL, United States)
Palmer, Patrick (Chicago Univ. Chicago, IL, United States)
Liu, S.-Y. (California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Date Acquired
September 7, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 2002
Subject Category
Astrophysics
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NSF AST-99-81363
PROJECT: RTOP 188-02-02-01
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAG5-8708
CONTRACT_GRANT: NSF AST-99-81546
PROJECT: RTOP 344-02-03-01
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Public Use Permitted.

Related Records

There are no records associated with this record.
No Preview Available