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Acetic acid (CH3COOH) has been detected mainly in hot molecular cores where the distribution between oxygen (O) and nitrogen (N) containing molecular species is cospatial within the telescope beam. Previous work has presumed that similar cores with cospatial O and N species may be an indicator for detecting acetic acid. However, does this presumption hold as higher spatial resolution observations of large O- and N-containing molecules become available? As the number of detected acetic acid sources is still low, more observations are needed to support this postulate. In this paper, we report the first acetic acid survey conducted with the Combined Array for Research in Millimeter-wave Astronomy at 3 mm wavelengths toward G19.61-0.23, G29.96-0.02, and IRAS 16293-2422. We have successfully detected CH3COOH via two transitions toward G19.61-0.23 and tentatively confirmed the detection toward IRAS 16293-2422 A. The determined column density of CH3COOH is 2.0(1.0) x 1016 cm-2 and the abundance ratio of CH3COOH to methyl formate (HCOOCH3) is 2.2(0.1) x 10-1 toward G19.61-0.23. Toward IRAS 16293 A, the determined column density of CH3COOH is [?]1.6 x 1015 cm-2 and the abundance ratio of CH3COOH to methyl formate (HCOOCH3) is [?]1.0 x 10-1, both of which are consistent with abundance ratios determined toward other hot cores. Finally, we model all known line emission in our passband to determine physical conditions in the regions and introduce a new metric to better reveal weak spectral features that are blended with stronger lines or that may be near the 1s-2s detection limit.

We report the detection of Voigt spectral line profiles of radio recombination lines (RRLs) toward Sagittarius B2(N) with the 100 m Green Bank Telescope (GBT). At radio wavelengths, astronomical spectra are highly populated with RRLs, which serve as ideal probes of the physical conditions in molecular cloud complexes. An analysis of the Hn? lines presented herein shows that RRLs of higher principal quantum number (n> 90) are generally divergent from their expected Gaussian profiles and, moreover, are well described by their respective Voigt profiles. This is in agreement with the theory that spectral lines experience pressure broadening as a result of electron collisions at lower radio frequencies. Given the inherent technical difficulties regarding the detection and profiling of true RRL wing spans and shapes, it is crucial that the observing instrumentation produce flat baselines as well as high-sensitivity, high-resolution data. The GBT has demonstrated its capabilities regarding all of these aspects, and we believe that future observations of RRL emission via the GBT will be crucial toward advancing our knowledge of the larger-scale extended structures of ionized gas in the interstellar medium (ISM).

We present an interferometric and single-dish study of small organic species toward Comets C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp) and C/2002 T7 (LINEAR) using the BIMA interferometer at 3 mm and the ARO 12 m telescope at 2 mm. For Comet Hale-Bopp, both the single-dish and interferometer observations of CH3OH indicate an excitation temperature of 105 +- 5 K and an average production rate ratio Q(CH3OH)/Q(H2O) [?] 1.3% at ~1 AU. In addition, the aperture synthesis observations of CH3OH suggest a distribution well described by a spherical outflow and no evidence of significant extended emission. Single-dish observations of CH3CN in Comet Hale-Bopp indicate an excitation temperature of 200 +- 10 K and a production rate ratio of Q(CH3CN)/Q(H2O) [?] 0.017% at ~1 AU. The nondetection of a previously claimed transition of cometary (CH2OH)2 toward Comet Hale-Bopp with the 12 m telescope indicates a compact distribution of emission, D < 9'' (<8500 km). For the single-dish observations of Comet T7 LINEAR, we find an excitation temperature of CH3OH of 35 +- 5 K and a CH3OH production rate ratio of Q(CH3OH)/Q(H2O) [?] 1.5% at ~0.3 AU. Our data support current chemical models that CH3OH, CH3CN, and (CH2OH)2 are parent nuclear species distributed into the coma via direct sublimation off cometary ices from the nucleus with no evidence of significant production in the outer coma.

Observations of formaldehyde (H2CO) have been conducted toward comets C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp), C/2001 Q4 (NEAT), and C/2002 T7 (LINEAR) using the Arizona Radio Observatory (ARO) 12 m telescope at 1.2 and 2 mm. Aperture synthesis maps of H2CO at 3 mm were made using the Berkeley-Illinois-Maryland Association (BIMA) interferometer toward comet Hale-Bopp. These data indicate that the production rate of H2CO is ~3.7 x 1028 s-1 at ~1 AU in comet Hale-Bopp, using a simple Monte Carlo model, if a nuclear origin for the molecule is assumed. However, maps of H2CO in Hale-Bopp, in comparison with CO, show an extended distribution (rs ~ 15,000 km) with small-scale structure oriented roughly along the comet-Sun direction. This result suggests a source of H2CO other than the comet nucleus. The extended source of formaldehyde is probably grains composed of a mixture of silicates and organic material. The production rate for H2CO increases to Q ~ 1.4 x 1029 s-1 assuming such an extended grain source. This value implies a Q/Q(H2O) ~ 1.4%, which is similar to the production rate ratio of Q/Q(H2O) ~ 4% derived from in situ measurements of H2CO in comet Halley. Production rates for H2CO toward comets C/2002 T7 (LINEAR) and C/2001 Q4 (NEAT) are 1.4 x 1027 and 5.6 x 1026 s-1, respectively, modeled using the extended grain source. The spectra of H2CO measured toward comet C/2002 T7 (LINEAR) show evidence for a second velocity component, most likely arising from comet fragmentation.

We present an interferometric search for large molecules, including methanol (CH3OH), methyl cyanide (CH3CN), ethyl cyanide (CH3CH2CN), ethanol (CH3CH2OH), and methyl formate (CH3OCHO), in comets LINEAR (C/2002 T7) and NEAT (C/2001 Q4) with the Berkeley-Illinois-Maryland Association (BIMA) array. We also searched for transitions of the simpler molecules CS, SiO, HNC, HN13C, and 13CO. We detected transitions of CH3OH and CS around comet LINEAR and one transition of CH3OH around comet NEAT within a synthesized beam of ~20''. We calculated the total column density and production rate of each molecular species using the variable temperature and outflow velocity (VTOV) model recently described by Friedel et al. Considering the molecular production rate ratios with respect to water, comet T7 LINEAR is more similar to comet Hale-Bopp, while comet Q4 NEAT is more similar to comet Hyakutake. It is unclear, however, due to such a small sample size, whether there is a clear distinction between a Hale-Bopp and Hyakutake class of comet or whether comets have a continuous range of molecular production rate ratios.

The three-carbon keto ring cyclopropenone (c-H2C 3O) has been detected largely in absorption with the 100 m Green Bank Telescope (GBT) toward the star-forming region Sagittarius B2(N) by means of a number of rotational transitions between energy levels that have energies less than 10 K. Previous negative results from searches for interstellar c-H2C3O by other investigators attempting to detect rotational transitions that have energy levels ~10 K or greater indicate no significant hot core component. Thus, we conclude that only the low-energy levels of c-H2C3O are populated because the molecule state temperature is low, suggesting that c-H2C3O resides in a star-forming core halo region that has a widespread arcminute spatial scale. Toward Sagittarius B2(N), the GBT was also used to observe the previously reported, spatially ubiquitous, three-carbon ring cyclopropenylidene (c-C3H2 ), which has a divalent carbon that makes it highly reactive in the laboratory. The presence of both c-C3H2 and c-H2C3O toward Sagittarius B2(N) suggests that gas-phase oxygen addition may account for the synthesis of c-H 2C3O from c-C3H2. We also searched for but did not detect the three-carbon sugar glyceraldehyde (CH2OHCHOHCHO).

We report high spatial resolution VLA observations of the low-mass star-forming region IRAS 16293-2422 using four molecular probes: ethyl cyanide (CH3CH2CN), methyl formate (CH3OCHO), formic acid (HCOOH), and the ground vibrational state of silicon monoxide (SiO). Ethyl cyanide emission has a spatial scale of ~20'' and encompasses binary cores A and B as determined by continuum emission peaks. Surrounded by formic acid emission, methyl formate emission has a spatial scale of ~6'' and is confined to core B. SiO emission shows two velocity components with spatial scales less than 2'' that map ~2'' northeast of the A and B symmetry axis. The redshifted SiO is ~2'' northwest of blueshifted SiO along a position angle of ~135deg which is approximately parallel to the A and B symmetry axis. We interpret the spatial position offset in red- and blueshifted SiO emission as due to rotation of a protostellar accretion disk, and we derive ~1.4 M interior to the SiO emission. In the same vicinity, Mundy et al. also concluded rotation of a nearly edge-on disk from OVRO observations of much stronger and ubiquitous 13CO emission, but the direction of rotation is opposite to the SiO emission findings. Taken together, SiO and 13CO data suggest evidence for a counterrotating disk. Moreover, archival BIMA array 12CO data show an inverse P Cygni profile with the strongest absorption in close proximity to the SiO emission, indicating unambiguous material infall toward the counterrotating protostellar disk at a new source location within the IRAS 16293-2422 complex. The details of these observations and our interpretations are discussed.

We present strong detections of methyl cyanide (CH3CN), vinyl cyanide (CH2CHCN), ethyl cyanide (CH3CH2CN), and cyanodiacetylene (HC4CN) molecules with the Green Bank Telescope (GBT) toward the Sgr B2(N) molecular cloud. Attempts to detect the corresponding isocyanide isomers were only successful in the case of methyl isocyanide (CH3NC) for its JK = 10-00 transition, which is the first interstellar report of this line. To determine the spatial distribution of CH3NC, we used archival Berkeley-Illinois-Maryland Association (BIMA) array data for the JK = 4K-3K (K = 0-3) transitions, but no emission was detected. From ab initio calculations, the bonding energy difference between the cyanide and isocyanide molecules is >8500 cm-1 (>12,000 K). Thus, cyanides are the more stable isomers and would likely be formed more preferentially over their isocyanide counterparts. That we detect CH3NC emission with a single antenna (Gaussian beam size OB = 1723 arcsec2) but not with an interferometer (OB = 192 arcsec2) strongly suggests that CH3NC has a widespread spatial distribution toward the Sgr B2(N) region. Other investigators have shown that CH3CN is present both in the LMH hot core of Sgr B2(N) and in the surrounding medium, while we have shown that CH3NC appears to be deficient in the LMH hot core. Thus, large-scale, nonthermal processes in the surrounding medium may account for the conversion of CH3CN to CH3NC, while the LMH hot core, which is dominated by thermal processes, does not produce a significant amount of CH3NC. Ice analog experiments by other investigators have shown that radiation bombardment of CH3CN can produce CH3NC, thus supporting our observations. We conclude that isomers separated by such large bonding energy differences are distributed in different interstellar environments, making the evaluation of column density ratios between such isomers irrelevant unless it can be independently shown that these species are cospatial.

We present interferometric detections of HCN in comets LINEAR (C/2002 T7) and NEAT (C/2001 Q4) with the Berkeley-Illinois-Maryland Association (BIMA) array. With a 25.''4 x 20.''3 synthesized beam around comet LINEAR and using a variable temperature and outflow velocity (VTOV) model, we found an HCN column density of [?]NT[?] = (6.4 +- 2.1) x 1012 cm-2 and a production rate of Q(HCN) = (6.5 +- 2.2) x 1026 s-1, giving a production rate ratio of HCN relative to H2O of ~(3.3 +- 1.1) x 10-3 and relative to CN of ~4.6 +- 1.5. With a 21.''3 x 17.''5 synthesized beam around comet NEAT and using a VTOV model, we found an HCN column density of img1.gif = (8.5 +- 4.5) x 1011 cm-2 and a production rate of Q(HCN) = (8.9 +- 4.7) x 1025 s-1, giving a production rate ratio of HCN relative to H2O of ~(7.4 +- 3.9) x 10-4 and relative to CN of ~0.3 +- 0.2. For both comets, the production rates relative to H2O are similar to those found in previous comet observations. For comet LINEAR, the production rate relative to CN is consistent with HCN being the primary parent species of CN, while for comet NEAT it is too low for this to be the case.

We present the results of our survey toward the proto-planetary nebula CRL 618 for several large, highly saturated, oxygen-bearing organic molecules of biological importance including acetaldehyde (CH3CHO), acetic acid (CH3COOH), dimethyl ether (CH3OCH3), ethanol (CH3CH2OH), formic acid (HCOOH) and methyl formate (HCOOCH3); large carbon chain molecules including methyl cyanide (CH3CN), methylcyanoacetylene (CH3C3N), cyanoacetylene (HC3N), cyanodiacetylene (HC5N), and C6H; and, finally, smaller molecules including 34SO, SO2, OC34S, and MgNC. No biologically important organic molecules were detected. However, we report the first interferometric detections of CH3CN and vibrationally excited HC3N and HC5N toward this source. The temperature and distribution of CH3CN toward CRL 618 indicates that it is formed in the outer envelope surrounding the ultracompact H II region. Furthermore, the P Cygni line profile and corresponding channel maps of vibrationally excited HC5N support its distribution in the extended envelope expanding radially from the central star. The detection of vibrationally excited HC3N confirmed the temperature structure and column density of HC3N in the inner envelope found by Wyrowski and colleagues. Finally, our observations clearly indicate that CRL 618 is a good source of large carbon chain species but a very poor source for detecting or producing organic species of biological importance.

We have conducted an extensive search for nitrogen-, oxygen-, and sulfur-bearing heterocycles toward Taurus Molecular Cloud 1 (TMC-1) using the deep, broadband centimeter-wavelength spectral line survey of the region from the GOTHAM large project on the Green Bank Telescope. Despite their ubiquity in terrestrial chemistry, and the confirmed presence of a number of cyclic and polycyclic hydrocarbon species in the source, we find no evidence for the presence of any heterocyclic species. Here, we report the derived upper limits on the column densities of these molecules obtained by Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) analysis and compare this approach to traditional single-line upper limit measurements. We further hypothesize why these molecules are absent in our data, how they might form in interstellar space, and the nature of observations that would be needed to secure their detection.