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Detection of interstellar ethyl cyanideTwenty-four millimeter-wave emission lines of ethyl cyanide (CH3CH2CN) have been detected in the Orion Nebula (OMC-1) and seven in Sgr B2. To derive precise radial velocities from the astronomical data, a laboratory measurement of the rotational spectrum of ethyl cyanide has been made at frequencies above 41 GHz. In OMC-1, the rotational temperature of ethyl cyanide is 90 K (in good agreement with other molecules), the local-standard-of-rest radial velocity is 4.5 + or - 1.0 km/s (versus 8.5 km/s for most molecules), and the column density is 1.8 by 10 to the 14th power per sq cm (a surprisingly high figure for a complicated molecule). The high abundance of ethyl cyanide in the Orion Nebula suggests that ethane and perhaps larger saturated hydrocarbons may be common constituents of molecular clouds and have escaped detection only because they are nonpolar or only weakly polar.
Document ID
19780031573
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
External Source(s)
Authors
Johnson, D. R.
(National Bureau of Standards Washington, DC, United States)
Lovas, F. J.
(National Bureau of Standards Washington, D.C., United States)
Gottlieb, C. A.
(National Bureau of Standards Washington, DC, United States)
Gottlieb, E. W.
(National Bureau of Standards Washington, DC, United States)
Litvak, M. M.
(Harvard College Observatory and Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge Mass., United States)
Thaddeus, P.
(NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies New York, N.Y., United States)
Guelin, M.
(National Bureau of Standards Washington, DC, United States)
Date Acquired
August 9, 2013
Publication Date
December 1, 1977
Publication Information
Publication: Astrophysical Journal
Subject Category
Astrophysics
Report/Patent Number
PB-275022
Accession Number
78A15482
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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