Investigating complex molecular ices in the ISM: A combined laboratory astrophysics and observational study

Abstract

There has been a recent explosion in the study of protoplanetary disks and star forming hot cores, with the goal of understanding both the phys. and complex chem. evolution of these regions. Within the next few years, full ALMA baselines will allow the study of gas-phase mol. content in these regions with unparalleled resoln. Unlocking the full potential of these observations, however, will rely on an understanding of the interplay between gas-phase and solid-phase (i.e. Ice) chem. Here, we present a combined lab. and observational approach to detg. the solid-phase chem. inventories and phys. conditions in these regions.We have constructed a moderate-resoln. (10 GHz), broadband (0.3 - 7.5 THz), time-domain THz spectrometer to study astrophys. ice analogs. Here, we discuss our observations of pure and mixed ices (e.g. Water, CO, methanol) in the context of analyzing archival Herschel PACS and SPIRE observations of star forming cores and protoplanetary disks. We present preliminary work toward the direct detn. of the spatial distribution of mol. abundances in these regions, as well as the state (i.e. Cryst. vs. amorphous) of the ices. Finally, we comment on the future applicability of these studies to observations using the versatile FIFI instrument being commissioned on SOFIA.