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We investigate the coevolution of metals and dust for 173 galaxies at 4.010 by JWST. Besides, we observe that the metallicity of galaxies at z>8 presents a metal-to-stellar mass ratio larger than a few 10^-3, above a floor. This suggests a very fast rise of metals at high redshift, impacting the tentative detections of population III objects., Comment: This paper is submitted. It contains a main paper with 5 figures and 2 tables, plus supplementary materials

To explain grain growth and destruction in warm media, ice mantle formation and sublimation in cold media, and gas line emission spectroscopy, astrochemical models must mimic the gas--solid abundance ratio. Ice-sublimation mechanisms determine the position of snow lines and the nature of gas emitted by and locked inside planetary bodies in star-forming regions. To interpret observations from the interplanetary and extragalactic interstellar mediums, gas phase abundances must be modelled correctly. This study presents comprehensive thermal desorption data for interstellar ice analogues, aiming to refine astrochemical models by generating a set of benchmarks to evaluate both the kinetics and thermodynamics in astrochemical models. Our experiments focused on temperature-programmed desorption of pure and mixed ices, including Ar, CO, CO2, NH3, CH3OH, and H2O, under ultrahigh vacuum (1 x 10^-10 hPa) and low temperatures (10 K). Each experiment includes the experimental parameters, ice desorption kinetics for pure species, and the desorption yield (gas--solid ratio) for ice mixtures. From the desorption yields, we find common trends in the trapping of molecules when their abundance is compared to water: compact amorphous water ices are capable of trapping up to 20 % of volatiles (Ar, CO, and CO2), ~ 3 % of CH3OH, and ~ 5% NH3 in relation to the water content within the ice matrix; ammonium formate is not trapped in the water ice films, and compact amorphous water ice formed in situ has similar trapping capabilities to a compact amorphous water ice deposited using molecular beams. Our results highlight the limited trapping capacity of compact amorphous water ice for gases, crucial for understanding the formation of interstellar complex organic molecules., Comment: Accepted for publication (A&A); 21 pages, 12 figures

The nucleus of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko exhibits a broad spectral reflectance feature around 3.2 $\mu$m, which is omnipresent in all spectra of the surface, and whose attribution has remained elusive since its discovery. Based on laboratory experiments, we have shown that most of this absorption feature is due to ammonium (NH4+) salts mixed with the dark surface material. The depth of the band is compatible with semi-volatile ammonium salts being a major reservoir of nitrogen in the comet, which could dominate over refractory organic matter and volatile species. These salts may thus represent the long-sought reservoir of nitrogen in comets, possibly bringing their nitrogen-to-carbon ratio in agreement with the solar value. Moreover, the reflectance spectra of several asteroids are compatible with the presence of NH4+ salts at their surfaces. The presence of such salts, and other NH4+-bearing compounds on asteroids, comets, and possibly in proto-stellar environments, suggests that NH4+ may be a tracer of the incorporation and transformation of nitrogen in ices, minerals and organics, at different phases of the formation of the Solar System.

The Kennicutt-Schmidt (KS) relation between the gas and the star formation rate (SFR) surface density ($\Sigma_{\rm gas}$-$\Sigma_{\rm SFR}$) is essential to understand star formation processes in galaxies. So far, it has been measured up to z~2.5 in main-sequence galaxies. In this letter, we aim to put constraints at z~4.5 using a sample of four massive main-sequence galaxies observed by ALMA at high resolution. We obtained ~0.3"-resolution [CII] and continuum maps of our objects, which we then converted into gas and obscured SFR surface density maps. In addition, we produced unobscured SFR surface density maps by convolving Hubble ancillary data in the rest-frame UV. We then derived the average $\Sigma_{\rm SFR}$ in various $\Sigma_{\rm gas}$ bins, and estimated the uncertainties using a Monte Carlo sampling. Our galaxy sample follows the KS relation measured in main-sequence galaxies at lower redshift and is slightly lower than predictions from simulations. Our data points probe the high end both in terms of $\Sigma_{\rm gas}$ and $\Sigma_{\rm gas}$, and gas depletion timescales (285-843 Myr) remain similar to z~2 objects. However, three of our objects are clearly morphologically disturbed, and we could have expected shorter gas depletion timescales (~100 Myr) similar to merger-driven starbursts at lower redshifts. This suggests that the mechanisms triggering starbursts at high redshift may be different than in the low- and intermediate-z Universe., Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures, 2 tables, accepted by A&A (letter)

The nature and evolution of high-redshift dusty star-forming galaxies (high-z DSFGs) remain an open question. Their massive gas reservoirs play an important role in driving the intense star-formation rates hosted in these galaxies. We aim to estimate the molecular gas content of high-z DSFGs by using various gas mass tracers such as the [CI], CO, [CII] emission lines and the dust content. These tracers need to be well calibrated as they are all limited by uncertainties on factors such as aCO, XCI, aCII and GDR, thereby affecting the determination of the gas mass accurately. The main goal of our work is to check the consistency between the gas mass tracers and cross-calibrate the uncertain factors. We observe the two [CI] line transitions for 29 SPT-SMGs with the ALMA-ACA. Additionally, we also present new APEX observations of [CII] line for 9 of these galaxies. We find a nearly linear relation between the infrared luminosity and [CI] luminosity if we fit the starbursts and main-sequence galaxies separately. We measure a median [CI]-derived excitation temperature of 34.5+/-2.1 K. We probe the properties of the interstellar medium (ISM) such as density and radiation field intensity using [CI] to mid- or high-J CO lines and [CI] to infrared luminosity ratio, and find similar values to the SMG populations in literature. Finally, the gas masses estimated from [CI], CO, dust, and [CII] do not exhibit any significant trend with the infrared luminosity or the dust temperature. We provide the various cross-calibrations between these tracers. Our study confirms that [CI] is a suitable tracer of the molecular gas content, and shows an overall agreement between all the classical gas tracers used at high redshift. However, their absolute calibration and thus the gas depletion timescale measurements remain uncertain., Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A, 25 pages, 11 figures, 6 tables

Infrared (IR), sub-millimetre (sub-mm) and millimetre (mm) databases contain a huge quantity of high quality data. However, a large part of these data are photometric, and are thought not to be useful to derive a quantitative information on the nebular emission of galaxies. The aim of this project is first to identify galaxies at z > 4-6, and in the epoch of reionization from their sub-mm colours. We also aim at showing that the colours can be used to try and derive physical constraints from photometric bands, when accounting for the contribution from the IR fine structure lines to these photometric bands. We model the flux of IR fine structure lines with CLOUDY, and add them to the dust continuum emission with CIGALE. Including or not emission lines in the simulated spectral energy distribution (SED) modifies the broad band emission and colours. The introduction of the lines allows to identify strong star forming galaxies at z > 4 - 6 from the log10 (PSW_250um/PMW_350um) versus log10 (LABOCA_870um/PLW_500um) colour-colour diagramme. By comparing the relevant models to each observed galaxy colour, we are able to roughly estimate the fluxes of the lines, and the associated nebular parameters. This method allows to identify a double sequence in a plot built from the ionization parameter and the gas metallicity. The HII and photodissociation region (PDR) fine structure lines are an essential part of the SEDs. It is important to add them when modelling the spectra, especially at z > 4 - 6 where their equivalent widths can be large. Conversely, we show that we can extract some information on strong IR fine structure lines and on the physical parameters related to the nebular emission from IR colour-colour diagrams., Comment: Paper accepted in Astronomy and Astrophysics on 10 November 2022

We use AGN with $\rm L_{X} \sim 10^{42.5-44}\,erg\,s^{-1}$, from the COSMOS-Legacy survey that lie within the UltraVISTA region and cross match them with the LEGA-C catalogue. The latter provides measurements of the calcium break, D$_n$4000, and H$_\delta$ Balmer line that allow us to study the stellar populations of AGN and compare them with a galaxy reference catalogue. Our samples consist of 69 AGN and 2176 non-AGN systems, within $\rm 0.6

Context: Broadband optical constants of astrophysical ice analogues in the infrared (IR) and terahertz (THz) ranges are required for modeling the dust continuum emission and radiative transfer in dense and cold regions, where thick icy mantles are formed on the surface of dust grains. Aims: In this paper, the THz time-domain spectroscopy (TDS) and the Fourier-transform IR spectroscopy (FTIR) are combined to study optical constants of CO and CO$_2$ ices in the broad THz-IR spectral range. Methods: The measured ices are grown at cryogenic temperatures by gas deposition on a cold Si window. A method to quantify the broadband THz-IR optical constants of ices is developed based on the direct reconstruction of the complex refractive index of ices in the THz range from the TDS data, and the use of the Kramers-Kronig relation in the IR range for the reconstruction from the FTIR data. Uncertainties of the Kramers-Kronig relation are eliminated by merging the THz and IR spectra. The reconstructed THz-IR response is then analyzed using classical models of complex dielectric permittivity. Results: The complex refractive index of CO and CO$_2$ ices deposited at the temperature of $28$ K is obtained in the range of 0.3--12.0 THz. Based on the measured dielectric constants, opacities of the astrophysical dust with CO and CO$_2$ icy mantles are computed. Conclusions: The developed method can be used for a model-independent reconstruction of optical constants of various astrophysical ice analogs in a broad THz-IR range. Such data can provide important benchmarks to interpret the broadband observations from the existing and future ground-based facilities and space telescopes. The reported results will be useful to model sources that show a drastic molecular freeze-out, such as central regions of prestellar cores and mid-planes of protoplanetary disks, as well as CO and CO$_2$ snow lines in disks., Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A, 9 pages, 7 figures

Protostellar jets are an important agent of star formation feedback, tightly connected with the mass-accretion process. The history of jet formation and mass-ejection provides constraints on the mass accretion history and the nature of the driving source. We want to characterize the time-variability of the mass-ejection phenomena at work in the Class 0 protostellar phase, in order to better understand the dynamics of the outflowing gas and bring more constraints on the origin of the jet chemical composition and the mass-accretion history. We have observed the emission of the CO 2-1 and SO N_J=5_4-4_3 rotational transitions with NOEMA, towards the intermediate-mass Class 0 protostellar system Cep E. The CO high-velocity jet emission reveals a central component associated with high-velocity molecular knots, also detected in SO, surrounded by a collimated layer of entrained gas. The gas layer appears to accelerate along the main axis over a length scale delta_0 ~700 au, while its diameter gradually increases up to several 1000au at 2000au from the protostar. The jet is fragmented into 18 knots of mass ~10^-3 Msun, unevenly distributed between the northern and southern lobes, with velocity variations up to 15 km/s close to the protostar, well below the jet terminal velocities. The knot interval distribution is approximately bimodal with a scale of ~50-80yr close to the protostar and ~150-200yr at larger distances >12". The mass-loss rates derived from knot masses are overall steady, with values of 2.7x10^-5 Msun/yr (8.9x10^-6 Msun/yr) in the northern (southern) lobe. The interaction of the ambient protostellar material with high-velocity knots drives the formation of a molecular layer around the jet, which accounts for the higher mass-loss rate in the north. The jet dynamics are well accounted for by a simple precession model with a period of 2000yr and a mass-ejection period of 55yr., Comment: 13 pages, 9 figures, 3 table. Accepted in A&A

The luminosity functions at z < 4 - 5 suggest that most galaxies have a relatively low stellar mass (logM_star = 10) and a low dust attenuation (A_FUV = 1.0). The physical properties of these objects are quite homogeneous. We used an approach where we combined their rest-frame far-infrared and submillimeter emissions and utilized the universe and the redshift as a spectrograph to increase the amount of information in a collective way. From a subsample of 27 ALMA-detected galaxies at z > 4.5, we built an infrared spectral energy distribution composite template. It was used to fit, with CIGALE, the 105 galaxies (detections and upper limits) in the sample from the FUV to the FIR. The derived physical parameters provide information to decipher the nature of the dust cycle and of the stellar populations in these galaxies. The derived IR composite template is consistent with the galaxies in the studied sample. A delayed star formation history with tau_main = 500 Myrs is slightly favored by the statistical analysis as compared to a delayed with a final burst or a continuous star formation history. The position of the sample in the star formation rate (SFR)- M_star diagram is consistent with previous papers. The redshift evolution of the log M_star versus A_FUV relation is in agreement with evolution in the redshift of this relation. This evolution is necessary to explain the cosmic evolution of the average dust attenuation of galaxies. Evolution is also observed in the L_dust/ L_FUV (IRX) versus UV slope beta_FUV diagram: younger galaxies have bluer beta_FUV. We modeled the shift of galaxies in the IRX versus the beta_FUV diagram with the mass-weighted age as a free parameter, and we provide an equation to make predictions., Comment: 40 pages, 13 figures

Modern and future surveys effectively provide a panchromatic view for large numbers of extragalactic objects. Consistently modeling these multiwavelength survey data is a critical but challenging task for extragalactic studies. The Code Investigating GALaxy Emission (CIGALE) is an efficient PYTHON code for spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting of galaxies and active galactic nuclei (AGNs). Recently, a major extension of CIGALE (named X-CIGALE) has been developed to account for AGN/galaxy X-ray emission and improve AGN modeling at UV-to-IR wavelengths. Here, we apply X-CIGALE to different samples, including COSMOS spectroscopic type 2 AGNs, CDF-S X-ray detected normal galaxies, SDSS quasars, and COSMOS radio objects. From these tests, we identify several weaknesses of X-CIGALE and improve the code accordingly. These improvements are mainly related to AGN intrinsic X-ray anisotropy, X-ray binary emission, AGN accretion-disk SED shape, and AGN radio emission. These updates improve the fit quality and allow new interpretation of the results, based on which we discuss physical implications. For example, we find that AGN intrinsic X-ray anisotropy is moderate, and can be modeled as $L_X(\theta) \propto 1+\cos \theta$, where $\theta$ is the viewing angle measured from the AGN axis. We merge the new code into the major branch of CIGALE, and publicly release this new version as CIGALE v2022.0 on https://cigale.lam.fr, Comment: ApJ accepted. The code is available at https://cigale.lam.fr/news/

High-redshift dusty star-forming galaxies with very high star formation rates (500 -- 3000 M$_{\odot}$ yr$^{-1}$) are key to understanding the formation of the most extreme galaxies in the early Universe. Characterising the gas reservoir of these systems can reveal the driving factor behind the high star formation. Using molecular gas tracers like high-J CO lines, neutral carbon lines and the dust continuum, we can estimate the gas density and radiation field intensity in their interstellar media. In this paper, we present high resolution ($\sim$0.4$^{\prime\prime}$) observations of CO(7-6), [CI](2-1) and dust continuum of 3 lensed galaxies from the SPT-SMG sample at $z\sim$ 3 with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array. Our sources have high intrinsic star-formation rates ($>$850 M$_{\odot}$yr$^{-1}$) and rather short depletion timescales ($<$100 Myr). Based on the L$_{[\rm CI](2-1)}$/L$_{\rm CO(7-6)}$ and L$_{[\rm CI](2-1)}$/L$_{\rm IR}$ ratios, our galaxy sample has similar radiation field intensities and gas densities compared to other submillimetre galaxies. We perform visibility-based lens modelling on these objects to reconstruct the kinematics in the source plane. We find that the cold gas masses of the sources are compatible with simple dynamical mass estimates using ULIRG-like values of the CO-H$_2$ conversion factor $\alpha_{\rm CO}$ but not Milky Way-like values. We find diverse source kinematics in our sample: SPT0103-45 and SPT2147-50 are likely rotating disks while SPT2357-51 is possibly a major merger. The analysis presented in the paper could be extended to a larger sample to determine better statistics of morphologies and interstellar medium properties of high-$z$ dusty star-forming galaxies., Comment: 29 pages, 26 figures, Accepted for publication in A&A. Figure 16 and the related conclusions have been revised

We perform SED fitting analysis on a COSMOS sample covering UV-to-FIR wavelengths with emission lines from the FMOS survey. The sample of 182 objects with H$\alpha$ and [OIII]$\lambda5007$ emission spans over a range of $1.40<\rm{z}<1.68$. We obtain robust estimates of stellar mass ($10^{9.5}-10^{11.5}~\rm{M_\odot}$) and SFR ($10^1-10^3~\rm{M_\odot}~\rm{yr}^{-1}$) from the Bayesian analysis with CIGALE fitting continuum photometry and H$\alpha$. We obtain a median attenuation of A$_\rm{H\alpha}=1.16\pm0.19$ mag and A$_\rm{[OIII]}=1.41\pm0.22$ mag. H$\alpha$ and [OIII]$\lambda5007$ attenuations are found to increase with stellar mass, confirming previous findings. A difference of $57$% in the attenuation experienced by emission lines and continuum is found in agreement with the lines being more attenuated than the continuum. New CLOUDY HII-region models in CIGALE enable good fits of H$\alpha$, H$\beta$, [OIII]$\lambda5007$ emission lines with differences smaller than $0.2$ dex. Fitting [NII]$\lambda6584$ line is challenging due to well-known discrepancies in the locus of galaxies in the BPT diagram at intermediate redshifts. We find a positive correlation for SFR and dust-corrected L$_\rm{[OIII]\lambda5007}$ and we derive the linear relation $\log_{10}\rm{(SFR/\rm{M}_\odot~\rm{yr}^{-1})}=\log_{10} (\rm{L}_{[\rm{OIII]}}/\rm{ergs~s^{-1}})-(41.20\pm0.02)$. Leaving the slope as a free parameter leads to $\log_{10}\rm{(SFR/\rm{M}_\odot~\rm{yr}^{-1})}=(0.83\pm0.06)\log_{10}(\rm{L}_{[\rm{OIII]}}/\rm{ergs~s^{-1}})-(34.01\pm2.63)$. Gas-phase metallicity and ionization parameter variations account for a $0.24$ dex and $1.1$ dex of the dispersion, respectively. An average value of $\log\rm{U}\approx-2.85$ is measured for this sample. Including HII-region models to fit simultaneously photometry and emission line fluxes are paramount to analyze future data from surveys such as MOONS and PFS., Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A, 17 pages, 19 figures

Dust is observed in the polar regions of nearby AGN and it is known to contribute substantially to their mid-IR emission and to the obscuration of their UV to optical emission. We selected a sample of 1275 BLAGN in the XMM-XXL field, with optical to infrared photometric data. These AGN are seen along their polar direction and we expect a maximal impact of dust located around the poles when it is present. We used X-CIGALE, which introduces a dust component to account for obscuration along the polar directions, modeled as a foreground screen, and an extinction curve that is chosen as it steepens significantly at short wavelengths or is much grayer. By comparing the results of different fits, we are able to define subsamples of sources with positive statistical evidence in favor of or against polar obscuration and described using the gray or steep extinction curve. We find a similar fraction of sources with positive evidence for and against polar dust. Applying statistical corrections, we estimate that half of our sample could contain polar dust and among them, 60% exhibit a steep extinction curve and 40% a flat extinction curve; although these latter percentages are found to depend on the adopted extinction curves. The obscuration in the V-band is not found to correlate with the X-ray column density, while A_V/N_H ratios span a large range of values and higher dust temperatures are found with the flat, rather than with the steep extinction curve. Ignoring this polar dust component in the fit of the spectral energy distribution of these composite systems leads to an overestimation of the stellar contribution. A single fit with a polar dust component described with an SMC extinction curve efficiently overcomes this issue but it fails at identifying all the AGN with polar dust obscuration., Comment: 12 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics

Context. The nitrogen reservoir in planetary systems is a long standing problem. Part of the N-bearing molecules is probably incorporated into the ice bulk during the cold phases of the stellar evolution, and may be gradually released into the gas phase when the ice is heated, such as in active comets. The chemical nature of the N-reservoir should greatly influence how, when and in what form N returns to the gas phase, or is incorporated into the refractory material forming planetary bodies. Aims. We present the study the thermal desorption of two ammonium salts: ammonium formate and ammonium acetate from a gold surface and from a water ice substrate. Methods. Temperature-programmed desorption experiments and Fourier transform infrared reflection spectroscopy were conducted to investigate the desorption behavior of ammonium salts. Results. Ammonium salts are semi-volatile species releasing neutral species as major components upon desorption, that is ammonia and the corresponding organic acid (HCOOH and CH3COOH), at temperatures higher than the temperature of thermal desorption of water ice. Their desorption follows a first-order Wigner-Polanyi law. We find the first order kinetic parameters A = 7.7 $\pm$ 0.6 $\times$ 10$^{15}$ s$^{-1}$ and E$_{bind}$ = 68.9 $\pm$ 0.1 kJ~mol$^{-1}$ for ammonium formate and A = 3.0 $\pm$ 0.4 $\times$ 10$^{20}$ s$^{-1}$ and E$_{bind}$ = 83.0 $\pm$ 0.2 kJ~mol$^{-1}$ for ammonium acetate. The presence of a water ice substrate does not influence the desorption kinetics. Ammonia molecules locked in salts desorb as neutral molecules at temperatures much higher than previously expected that are usually attributed to refractory materials. Conclusions. Ammonia snow-line has a smaller radius than the water snow-line. As a result, the NH3/H2O ratio content in solar system bodies can be a hint as to where they formed and subsequently migrated., Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A, 10 pages, 7 figures

The chemical enrichment in the interstellar medium (ISM) of galaxies is regulated by several physical processes: stellar evolution, grain formation and destruction, galactic inflows and outflows. Understanding such processes is essential to follow the chemical enrichment of galaxies through the cosmic epochs, and to interpret the observations. Despite the importance of such topics, the efficiency of the different processes driving the evolution of baryons in galaxies, remain controversial. We revise the current description of metal and dust evolution in local low-metallicity dwarf galaxies and we develop a description for Lyman Break Galaxies. Our main goal is to reproduce i) the peak in the mass of dust over the mass of stars (sMdust) observed within few hundred Myrs; ii) the decrease of the sMdust at later time. The spectral energy distribution of the galaxies is fitted with the "Code Investigating GALaxies Emission" (CIGALE), through which the stellar and dust masses, and the star formation rate are estimated. For some of the dwarf galaxies, the metal and gas content are also available. We run different calculations of chemical evolution in galaxies, and we fit the observed properties through the model predictions. We show that i) a top-heavy initial mass function that favours massive stars and a dust condensation fraction for Type II Supernovae (SNe II) of 50% or more help to reproduce the peak of sMdust observed after 100 Myrs since the beginning of the cycle; ii) galactic outflows play a crucial role in reproducing the decline in sMdust with age, and they are more efficient than grain destruction from SNe II; iii) a star formation efficiency (mass of gas converted into stars) of few per cent is required to explain the metallicity of local dwarf galaxies; iv) dust growth in the ISM is not necessary to reproduce the sMdust and, if present, its effect is erased by galactic outflows., Comment: 28 pages, 17 figures, accepted for publication in A&A

The measured nitrogen-to-carbon ratio in comets is lower than for the Sun, a discrepancy which could be alleviated if there is an unknown reservoir of nitrogen in comets. The nucleus of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko exhibits an unidentified broad spectral reflectance feature around 3.2 micrometers, which is ubiquitous across its surface. On the basis of laboratory experiments, we attribute this absorption band to ammonium salts mixed with dust on the surface. The depth of the band indicates that semivolatile ammonium salts are a substantial reservoir of nitrogen in the comet, potentially dominating over refractory organic matter and more volatile species. Similar absorption features appear in the spectra of some asteroids, implying a compositional link between asteroids, comets, and the parent interstellar cloud., Comment: Main manuscript and Supplementary material document, Accepted for publication in Science on February 14, 2020

The SOLIS (Seeds Of Life In Space) IRAM/NOEMA Large Program aims at studying a set of crucial complex organic molecules in a sample of sources, with well-known physical structure, covering the various phases of Solar-type star formation. One representative object of the transition from the prestellar core to the protostar phases has been observed toward the Very Low Luminosity Object (VeLLO) called L1521F. This type of source is important to study to make the link between prestellar cores and Class 0 sources and also to constrain the chemical evolution during the process of star formation. Two frequency windows (81.6-82.6 GHz and 96.65-97.65 GHz) were used to observe the emission from several complex organics toward the L1521F VeLLO. Only 2 transitions of methanol (A+, E2) have been detected in the narrow window centered at 96.7 GHz (with an upper limit on E1) in a very compact emission blob (~7'' corresponding to ~1000au) toward the NE of the L1521F protostar. The CS 2-1 transition is also detected within the WideX bandwidth. Consistently, with what has been found in prestellar cores, the methanol emission appears ~1000au away from the dust peak. The location of the methanol blob coincides with one of the filaments previously reported in the literature. The Tex of the gas inferred from methanol is (10$\pm$2) K, while the H2 gas density (estimated from the detected CS 2-1 emission and previous CS 5-4 ALMA obs.) is a factor >25 higher than the density in the surrounding environment (n(H2) >10$^{7}$ cm$^{-3}$). From its compactness, low excitation temperature and high gas density, we suggest that the methanol emission detected with NOEMA is either a cold and dense shock-induced blob, recently formed ($\leq$ few hundred years) by infalling gas or a cold and dense fragment that may have just been formed as a result of the intense gas dynamics found within the L1521F VeLLO system., Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures, 3 tables, accepted for publication by A&A

The first generation of stars were born a few hundred million years after the big bang. These stars synthesized elements heavier than H and He, that are later expelled into the interstellar medium, initiating the rise of metals. Within this enriched medium, the first dust grains formed. This event is cosmological crucial for molecule formation as dust plays a major role by cooling low-metallicity star-forming clouds which can fragment to create lower mass stars. Collecting information on these first dust grains is difficult because of the negative alliance of large distances and low dust masses. We combine the observational information from galaxies at redshifts 5 < z < 10 to constrain their dust emission and theoretically understand the first evolutionary phases of the dust cycle. Spectral energy distributions (SEDs) are fitted with CIGALE and the physical parameters and their evolution are modelled. From this SED fitting, we build a dust emission template for this population of galaxies in the epoch of reionization. Our new models explain why some early galaxies are observed and others are not. We follow in time the formation of the first grains by supernovae later destroyed by other supernova blasts and expelled in the circumgalactic and intergalactic media. We have found evidence for the first dust grains formed in the universe. But, above all, this letter underlines the need to collect more data and to develop new facilities to further constrain the dust cycle in galaxies in the epoch of reionization., Comment: Paper accepted for publication in section 4. Extragalactic astronomy of Astronomy and Astrophysics (Feb. 2020). Correction typo in caption of Fig. 1

High-resolution gas phase spectroscopy techniques in the microwave, millimeter-wave and terahertz spectral ranges can be used to study complex organic molecules desorbed from interstellar ice analogues surface with a high sensitivity. High-resolution gas phase spectroscopy gives unambiguous information about the molecular composition, the molecular structure, and transition frequencies needed for their detection by radio telescopes in various interstellar and circumstellar environments. The results will be useful not only for interpreting astronomical spectra and understanding astrophysical processes, but also for more general studies of gas-surface chemistry. This paper presents a new experimental approach based on a combination of a chirped-pulse Fourier transform microwave spectrometer detection and a low temperature surface desorption experiment. The experimental set-up is benchmarked on the desorption of ammonia ice detected by high-resolution gas phase microwave spectroscopy., Comment: accepted on Earth Space and Chemistry

Formamide (NH$_2$CHO) has been identified as a potential precursor of a wide variety of organic compounds essential to life, and many biochemical studies propose it likely played a crucial role in the context of the origin of life on our planet. The detection of formamide in comets, which are believed to have --at least partially-- inherited their current chemical composition during the birth of the Solar System, raises the question whether a non-negligible amount of formamide may have been exogenously delivered onto a very young Earth about four billion years ago. A crucial part of the effort to answer this question involves searching for formamide in regions where stars and planets are forming today in our Galaxy, as this can shed light on its formation, survival, and chemical re-processing along the different evolutionary phases leading to a star and planetary system like our own. The present review primarily addresses the chemistry of formamide in the interstellar medium, from the point of view of (i) astronomical observations, (ii) experiments, and (iii) theoretical calculations. While focusing on just one molecule, this review also more generally reflects the importance of joining efforts across multiple scientific disciplines in order to make progress in the highly interdisciplinary science of astrochemistry., Comment: Review, 5 figures

Surface chemistry on cosmic dust grains plays an important role in the formation of molecules at low temperatures in the interstellar and circumstellar environments. For the first time, we experimentally put in evidence the catalytic role of dust surfaces using the thermal reaction CO2 + 2NH3 = NH4+NH2COO-, which is also a proxy of radical-radical reactions. Nanometre-sized amorphous silicate and carbon grains produced in our laboratory were used as grain analogues. Surface catalysis on grains accelerates the kinetics of the reaction studied at a temperature of 80 K by a factor of up to 3 compared to the reaction occurring in the molecular solid. The evidence of the catalytic effect of grain surfaces opens a door for experiments and calculations on the surface formation of interstellar and circumstellar molecules on dust. Ammonium carbamate on the surface of grains or released intact into protostellar or protoplanetary disk phases can give start to a network of prebiotic reactions. Therefore, there should be a great interest to search for ammonium carbamate and its daughter molecule, carbamic acid, in interstellar clouds, protostellar envelopes, and protoplanetary disks.

We report new interferometric images of cyclopropenylidene, c-C$_3$H$_2$, towards the young protocluster OMC-2 FIR\,4. The observations were performed at 82 and 85 GHz with the NOrthern Extended Millimeter Array (NOEMA) as part of the project Seeds Of Life In Space (SOLIS). In addition, IRAM-30m data observations were used to investigate the physical structure of OMC-2 FIR\,4. We find that the c-C$_3$H$_2$ gas emits from the same region where previous SOLIS observations showed bright HC$_5$N emission. From a non-LTE analysis of the IRAM-30m data, the c-C$_3$H$_2$ gas has an average temperature of $\sim$40K, a H$_2$ density of $\sim$3$\times$10$^{5}$~cm$^{-3}$, and a c-C$_3$H$_2$ abundance relative to H$_2$ of ($7\pm1$)$\times$10$^{-12}$. In addition, the NOEMA observations provide no sign of significant c-C$_3$H$_2$ excitation temperature gradients across the region (about 3-4 beams), with T$_{ex}$ in the range 8$\pm$3 up to 16$\pm$7K. We thus infer that our observations are inconsistent with a physical interaction of the OMC-2 FIR\,4 envelope with the outflow arising from OMC-2 FIR\,3, as claimed by previous studies. The comparison of the measured c-C$_3$H$_2$ abundance with the predictions from an astrochemical PDR model indicates that OMC-2 FIR\,4 is irradiated by a FUV field $\sim$1000 times larger than the interstellar one, and by a flux of ionising particles $\sim$4000 times larger than the canonical value of $1\times10^{-17}$~s$^{-1}$ from the Galaxy cosmic rays, which is consistent with our previous HC$_5$N observations. This provides an important and independent confirmation of other studies that one or more sources inside the OMC-2 FIR\,4 region emit energetic ($\geq10$~MeV) particles., Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ - 14 pages, 10 figures, 4 tables

Towards the pre-stellar core L1544, the methanol (CH$_3$OH) emission forms an asymmetric ring around the core centre, where CH$_3$OH is mostly in solid form, with a clear peak 4000~au to the north-east of the dust continuum peak. As part of the NOEMA Large Project SOLIS (Seeds of Life in Space), the CH$_3$OH peak has been spatially resolved to study its kinematics and physical structure and to investigate the cause behind the local enhancement. We find that methanol emission is distributed in a ridge parallel to the main axis of the dense core. The centroid velocity increases by about 0.2~km~s$^{-1}$ and the velocity dispersion increases from subsonic to transonic towards the central zone of the core, where the velocity field also shows complex structure. This could be indication of gentle accretion of material onto the core or interaction of two filaments, producing a slow shock. We measure the rotational temperature and show that methanol is in local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) only close to the dust peak, where it is significantly depleted. The CH$_3$OH column density, $N_{tot}({\rm CH_3OH})$, profile has been derived with non-LTE radiative transfer modelling and compared with chemical models of a static core. The measured $N_{tot}({\rm CH_3OH})$ profile is consistent with model predictions, but the total column densities are one order of magnitude lower than those predicted by models, suggesting that the efficiency of reactive desorption or atomic hydrogen tunnelling adopted in the model may be overestimated; or that an evolutionary model is needed to better reproduce methanol abundance., Comment: 19 pages, 18 figures. Accepted by ApJ

Complex organic molecules have been observed for decades in the interstellar medium. Some of them might be considered as small bricks of the macromolecules at the base of terrestrial life. It is hence particularly important to understand organic chemistry in Solar-like star forming regions. In this article, we present a new observational project: SOLIS (Seeds Of Life In Space). This is a Large Project at the IRAM-NOEMA interferometer, and its scope is to image the emission of several crucial organic molecules in a sample of Solar-like star forming regions in different evolutionary stage and environments. Here, we report the first SOLIS results, obtained from analysing the spectra of different regions of the Class 0 source NGC1333-IRAS4A, the protocluster OMC-2 FIR4, and the shock site L1157-B1. The different regions were identified based on the images of formamide (NH2CHO) and cyanodiacetylene (HC5N) lines. We discuss the observed large diversity in the molecular and organic content, both on large (3000-10000 au) and relatively small (300-1000 au) scales. Finally, we derive upper limits to the methoxy fractional abundance in the three observed regions of the same order of magnitude of that measured in few cold prestellar objects, namely ~10^-12-10^-11 with respect to H2 molecules., Comment: Accepted for publication on The Astrophysical Journal

Context: Modern versions of the Miller-Urey experiment claim that formamide (NH$_2$CHO) could be the starting point for the formation of metabolic and genetic macromolecules. Intriguingly, formamide is indeed observed in regions forming Solar-type stars as well as in external galaxies. Aims: How NH$_2$CHO is formed has been a puzzle for decades: our goal is to contribute to the hotly debated question of whether formamide is mostly formed via gas-phase or grain surface chemistry. Methods: We used the NOEMA interferometer to image NH$_2$CHO towards the L1157-B1 blue-shifted shock, a well known interstellar laboratory, to study how the components of dust mantles and cores released into the gas phase triggers the formation of formamide. Results: We report the first spatially resolved image (size $\sim$ 9", $\sim$ 2300 AU) of formamide emission in a shocked region around a Sun-like protostar: the line profiles are blueshifted and have a FWHM $\simeq$ 5 km s$^{-1}$. A column density of $N_{\rm NH_2CHO}$ = 8 $\times$ 10$^{12}$ cm$^{-1}$, and an abundance (with respect to H-nuclei) of 4 $\times$ 10$^{-9}$ are derived. We show a spatial segregation of formamide with respect to other organic species. Our observations, coupled with a chemical modelling analysis, indicate that the formamide observed in L1157-B1 is formed by gas-phase chemical process, and not on grain surfaces as previously suggested. Conclusions: The SOLIS interferometric observations of formamide provide direct evidence that this potentially crucial brick of life is efficiently formed in the gas-phase around Sun-like protostars., Comment: 7 pages, 1 table, 5 figures, A&A Letters, in press

The interstellar delivery of carbon atoms locked into molecules might be one of the key ingredients for the emergence of life. Cyanopolyynes are carbon chains delimited at their two extremities by an atom of hydrogen and a cyano group, so that they might be excellent reservoirs of carbon. The simplest member, HC3N, is ubiquitous in the galactic interstellar medium and found also in external galaxies. Thus, understanding the growth of cyanopolyynes in regions forming stars similar to our Sun, and what affects it, is particularly relevant. In the framework of the IRAM/NOEMA Large Program SOLIS (Seeds Of Life In Space), we have obtained a map of two cyanopolyynes, HC3N and HC5N, in the protocluster OMC2-FIR4. Because our Sun is thought to be born in a rich cluster, OMC2-FIR4 is one of the closest and best known representatives of the environment in which the Sun may have been born. We find a HC3N/HC5N abundance ratio across the source in the range ~ 1 - 30, with the smallest values (< 10) in FIR5 and in the Eastern region of FIR4. The ratios < 10 can be reproduced by chemical models only if: (1) the cosmic-ray ionisation rate $\zeta$ is ~ $4 \times 10^{-14}$ s$^{-1}$; (2) the gaseous elemental ratio C/O is close to unity; (3) O and C are largely depleted. The large $\zeta$ is comparable to that measured in FIR4 by previous works and was interpreted as due to a flux of energetic (> 10 MeV) particles from embedded sources. We suggest that these sources could lie East of FIR4 and FIR5. A temperature gradient across FIR4, with T decreasing by about 10 K, could also explain the observed change in the HC3N/HC5N line ratio, without the need of a cosmic ray ionisation rate gradient. However, even in this case, a high constant cosmic-ray ionisation rate (of the order of $10^{-14}$ s$^{-1}$) is necessary to reproduce the observations., Comment: 12 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in A&A

The deuterium fractionation of gas-phase molecules in hot cores is believed to reflect the composition of interstellar ices. The deuteration of methanol is a major puzzle, however, because the isotopologue ratio [CH2DOH]/[CH3OD], which is predicted to be equal to 3 by standard grain chemistry models, is much larger (~20) in low-mass hot corinos and significantly lower (~1) in high-mass hot cores. This dichotomy in methanol deuteration between low-mass and massive protostars is currently not understood. In this study, we report a simplified rate equation model of the deuterium chemistry occurring in the icy mantles of interstellar grains. We apply this model to the chemistry of hot corinos and hot cores, with IRAS 16293-2422 and the Orion~KL Compact Ridge as prototypes, respectively. The chemistry is based on a statistical initial deuteration at low temperature followed by a warm-up phase during which thermal hydrogen/deuterium (H/D) exchanges occur between water and methanol. The exchange kinetics is incorporated using laboratory data. The [CH2DOH]/[CH3OD] ratio is found to scale inversely with the D/H ratio of water, owing to the H/D exchange equilibrium between the hydroxyl (-OH) functional groups of methanol and water. Our model is able to reproduce the observed [CH2DOH]/[CH3OD] ratios provided that the primitive fractionation of water ice [HDO]/[H2O] is ~ 2% in IRAS 16293-2422 and ~0.6% in Orion~KL. We conclude that the molecular D/H ratios measured in hot cores may not be representative of the original mantles because molecules with exchangeable deuterium atoms can equilibrate with water ice during the warm-up phase., Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures, accepted in Astronomy and Astrophysics

Context. It is generally agreed that hydrogenation reactions dominate chemistry on grain surfaces in cold, dense molecular cores, saturating the molecules present in ice mantles. Aims. We present a study of the low temperature reactivity of solid phase isocyanic acid (HNCO) with hydrogen atoms, with the aim of elucidating its reaction network. Methods. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and mass spectrometry were employed to follow the evolution of pure HNCO ice during bombardment with H atoms. Both multilayer and monolayer regimes were investigated. Results. The hydrogenation of HNCO does not produce detectable amounts of formamide (NH2CHO) as the major product. Experiments using deuterium reveal that deuteration of solid HNCO occurs rapidly, probably via cyclic reaction paths regenerating HNCO. Chemical desorption during these reaction cycles leads to loss of HNCO from the surface. Conclusions. It is unlikely that significant quantities of NH2CHO form from HNCO. In dense regions, however, deuteration of HNCO will occur. HNCO and DNCO will be introduced into the gas phase, even at low temperatures, as a result of chemical desorption., Comment: 9 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in A&A

HCN is a molecule central to interstellar chemistry, since it is the simplest molecule containing a carbon-nitrogen bond and its solid state chemistry is rich. The aim of this work was to study the NH3 + HCN -> NH4+CN- thermal reaction in interstellar ice analogues. Laboratory experiments based on Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and mass spectrometry were performed to characterise the NH4+CN- reaction product and its formation kinetics. This reaction is purely thermal and can occur at low temperatures in interstellar ices without requiring non-thermal processing by photons, electrons or cosmic rays. The reaction rate constant has a temperature dependence of k(T) = 0.016+0.010-0.006 s-1.exp((-2.7+-0.4 kJmol-1)/(RT)) when NH3 is much more abundant than HCN. When both reactants are diluted in water ice, the reaction is slowed down. We have estimated the CN- ion band strength to be A_CN- = 1.8+-1.5 x10-17 cm molec-1 at both 20 K and 140 K. NH4+CN- exhibits zeroth-order multilayer desorption kinetics with a rate of k_des(T) = 10^28 molecules cm-2 s-1.exp((-38.0+-1.4 kJmol-1)/(RT)). The NH3 + HCN -> NH4+CN- thermal reaction is of primary importance because (i) it decreases the amount of HCN available to be hydrogenated into CH2NH, (ii) the NH4+ and CN- ions react with species such as H2CO, or CH2NH to form complex molecules, and (iii) NH4+CN- is a reservoir of NH3 and HCN, which can be made available to a high temperature chemistry., Comment: 12 pages, 9 figures, 3 tables. Accepted for publication in MNRAS

We present the results of a 7 mm spectral survey of molecular absorption lines originating in the disk of a z=0.89 spiral galaxy located in front of the quasar PKS 1830-211. [...] A total of 28 different species, plus 8 isotopic variants, were detected toward the south-west absorption region, located about 2 kpc from the center of the z=0.89 galaxy, which therefore has the largest number of detected molecular species of any extragalactic object so far. The results of our rotation diagram analysis show that the rotation temperatures are close to the cosmic microwave background temperature of 5.14 K that we expect to measure at z=0.89, whereas the kinetic temperature is one order of magnitude higher, indicating that the gas is subthermally excited. The molecular fractional abundances are found to be in-between those in typical Galactic diffuse and translucent clouds, and clearly deviate from those observed in the dark cloud TMC 1 or in the Galactic center giant molecular cloud Sgr B2. The isotopic ratios of carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and silicon deviate significantly from the solar values, which can be linked to the young age of the z=0.89 galaxy and a release of nucleosynthesis products dominated by massive stars. [...] We also report the discovery of several new absorption components, with velocities spanning between -300 and +170 km/s. Finally, the line centroids of several species (e.g., CH3OH, NH3) are found to be significantly offset from the average velocity. If caused by a variation in the proton-to-electron mass ratio mu with redshift, these offsets yield an upper limit |Delta_mu/mu|<4e-6, which takes into account the kinematical noise produced by the velocity dispersion measured from a large number of molecular species., Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A

Pure rotational spectra of three polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons - acenaphthene, acenaphthylene and fluorene - have been obtained by Fourier transform microwave spectroscopy of a molecular beam and subsequently by millimeter wave absorption spectroscopy for acenaphthene and fluorene. The data presented here will be useful for deep radio astronomical searches for PAHs employing large radio telecopes., Comment: 2 pages, 1 figure (uses iaus.sty), to appear in IAU Symposium No. 231, Astrochemistry - Recent Successes and Current Challenges, eds. D. C. Lis, G. A. Blake & E. Herbst (Cambridge Univ. Press)

Radio frequency magneto-impedance measurements clearly reveal a pronounced anomaly at 260K besides the main MI transition at 125K in the double perovskite material $La_{1.2}Sr_{1.8}Mn_{2}O_{7}$. This feature is not seen clearly in static resistivity and magnetization measurements. We suggest that this anomaly represents short range magnetic correlations enhanced at radio frequencies, with the easy axis along the c-axis ., Comment: four pages, three figures