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Context.We present the technology and first scientific results of a new generation of very flexible and sensitive spectrometers, well-suited for the needs of spectral-line radio and (sub)millimeter astronomy: Fast Fourier Transform Spectrometers (FFTS), which are in operation at the Atacama Pathfinder EXperiment (APEX) telescope.
Aims. The FFTS for APEX is a novel high-resolution 2 x 1 GHz bandwidth digital spectrometer backend. Due to its high frequency resolution, and the demonstrated capability of operating at high altitude, the FFTS became the facility spectrometer for spectral line observations at APEX.
Methods. The FFTS is based on one of the currently most powerful digitizer/analyzer boards available from Acqiris, Switzerland. The board incorporates two 1 Gsamples/s analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) with 8-bit resolution which feed an on-board complex field programmable gate array (FPGA) chip. The enormous processing power by today's FPGAs allow for a complete real-time FFT signal processing pipeline to decompose a 1 GHz band into 16 384 spectral channels in just one chip.
Results. Since May 2005 an MPIfR FFTS has been extensively used in all regular spectroscopic science observations. The performance at APEX was demonstrated to be very reliable and as good as measured in the first laboratory tests which finally led to the request to provide a second, facility type FFTS for APEX. The unit was delivered and commissioned in March this year.
Conclusions. Using a commercially available digitizer board, it was possible to develop a complete FFTS in only a few months. Successful observations at APEX demonstrate that this new generation of FPGA-based spectrometers easily matching and superseding the performance of older technology spectrometers and can built up much more easily. Furthermore, the by now available class of new high-speed ADCs and the continuous increase of FPGA processing power makes it very likely that FFTS can be pushed to broader bandwidth and even more spectral channels in the near future.
Using the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX) telescope, we have detected the rotational ground-state transitions of ortho-ammonia and ortho-water toward the redshift 0.89 absorbing galaxy in the PKS 1830-211 gravitational lens system. We discuss our observations in the context of recent space-borne data obtained for these lines with the SWAS and Odin satellites toward Galactic sources. We find commonalities, but also significant differences between the interstellar media in a galaxy at intermediate redshift and in the Milky Way. Future high-quality observations of the ground-state ammonia transition in PKS 1830-211, together with inversion line data, will lead to strong constraints on the variation in the proton to electron mass ratio over the past 7.2 Gyr.
Context. Although water is an essential and widespread molecule in star-forming regions, its chemical formation pathways are still not very well constrained. Observing the level of deuterium fractionation of OH, a radical involved in the water chemical network, is a promising way to infer its chemical origin.
Aims. We aim at understanding the formation mechanisms of water by investigating the origin of its deuterium fractionation. This can be achieved by observing the abundance of OD towards the low-mass protostar IRAS 16293−2422, where the HDO distribution is already known.
Methods. Using the GREAT receiver on board SOFIA, we observed the ground-state OD transition at 1391.5 GHz towards the low-mass protostar IRAS 16293−2422. We also present the detection of the HDO 111-000 line using the APEX telescope. We compare the OD/HDO abundance ratio inferred from these observations with the predictions of chemical models.
Results. The OD line is detected in absorption towards the source continuum. This is the first detection of OD outside the solar system. The SOFIA observation, coupled to the observation of the HDO 111-000 line, provides an estimate of the abundance ratio OD/HDO ~ 17–90 in the gas where the absorption takes place. This value is fairly high compared with model predictions. This may be reconciled if reprocessing in the gas by means of the dissociative recombination of H2DO+ further fractionates OH with respect to water.
Conclusions. The present observation demonstrates the capability of the SOFIA/GREAT instrument to detect the ground transition of OD towards star-forming regions in a frequency range that was not accessible before. Dissociative recombination of H2DO+ may play an important role in setting a high OD abundance. Measuring the branching ratios of this reaction in the laboratory will be of great value for chemical models.
Context. IRC +10216 is the prototypical carbon star exhibiting an extended molecular circumstellar envelope. Its spectral properties are therefore the template for an entire class of objects.
Aims. The main goal is to systematically study the λ ~ 1.3 cm spectral line characteristics of IRC +10216.
Methods. We carried out a spectral line survey with the Effelsberg-100 m telescope toward IRC +10216. It covers the frequency range between 17.8 GHz and 26.3 GHz (K-band).
Results. In the circumstellar shell of IRC +10216, we find 78 spectral lines, among which 12 remain unidentified. The identified lines are assigned to 18 different molecules and radicals. A total of 23 lines from species known to exist in this envelope are detected for the first time outside the solar system and there are additional 20 lines first detected in IRC +10216. The potential orgin of “U” lines is also discussed. Assuming local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE), we then determine rotational temperatures and column densities of 17 detected molecules. Molecular abundances relative to H2 are also estimated. A non-LTE analysis of NH3 shows that the bulk of its emission arises from the inner envelope with a kinetic temperature of 70 ± 20 K. Evidence for NH3 emitting gas with higher kinetic temperature is also obtained, and potential abundance differences between various 13C-bearing isotopologues of HC5N are evaluated. Overall, the isotopic 12C/13C ratio is estimated to be 49 ± 9. Finally, a comparison of detected molecules in the λ ~ 1.3 cm range with the dark cloud TMC-1 indicates that silicate-bearing molecules are more predominant in IRC +10216.
Context. The nearby Orion Kleinmann-Low nebula is one of the most prolific sources of molecular line emission. It has served as a benchmark for spectral line searches throughout the (sub)millimeter regime.
Aims. The main goal is to systematically study the spectral characteristics of Orion KL in the λ ~ 1.3 cm band.
Methods. We carried out a spectral line survey with the Effelsberg-100 m telescope toward Orion KL. It covers the frequency range between 17.9 GHz and 26.2 GHz, i.e., the radio “K band”. We also examined ALMA maps to address the spatial origin of molecules detected by our 1.3 cm line survey.
Results. In Orion KL, we find 261 spectral lines, yielding an average line density of about 32 spectral features per GHz above 3σ (a typical value of 3σ is 15 mJy). The identified lines include 164 radio recombination lines (RRLs) and 97 molecular lines. The RRLs, from hydrogen, helium, and carbon, stem from the ionized material of the Orion Nebula, part of which is covered by our beam. The molecular lines are assigned to 13 different molecular species including rare isotopologues. A total of 23 molecular transitions from species known to exist in Orion KL are detected for the first time in the interstellar medium. Non-metastable (J>K) 15NH3 transitions are detected in Orion KL for the first time. Based on the velocity information of detected lines and the ALMA images, the spatial origins of molecular emission are constrained and discussed. A narrow feature is found in SO2 (81,7 − 72,6), but not in other SO2 transitions, possibly suggesting the presence of a maser line. Column densities and fractional abundances relative to H2 are estimated for 12 molecules with local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) methods. Rotational diagrams of non-metastable 14NH3 transitions with J = K + 1 to J = K + 4 yield different results; metastable (J = K) 15NH3 is found to have a higher excitation temperature than non-metastable 15NH3, also indicating that they may trace different regions. Elemental and isotopic abundance ratios are also estimated: He/H = (8.7 ± 0.7)% derived from the ratios between helium RRLs and hydrogen RRLs; 12C/13C = 63 ± 17 from 12CH3OH/13CH3OH; 14N/15N =100 ± 51 from 14NH3/15NH3; and D/H = (8.3 ± 4.5) × 10-3 from NH2D/NH3. The dispersion of the He/H ratios derived from Hα/Heα pairs to Hδ/Heδ pairs is very small, which is consistent with theoretical predictions that the departure coefficients bn factors for hydrogen and helium are nearly identical. Based on a non-LTE code that neglects excitation by the infrared radiation field and a likelihood analysis, we find that the denser regions have lower kinetic temperature, which favors an external heating of the hot core.
With the GREAT receiver at the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), nine massive molecular clumps have been observed in the ammonia 32+−22− line at 1.8 THz in a search for signatures of infall. The sources were selected from the ATLASGAL submillimeter dust continuum survey of our Galaxy. Clumps with high masses covering a range of evolutionary stages based on their infrared properties were chosen. The ammonia line was detected in all sources, leading to five new detections and one confirmation of a previous detection of redshifted absorption in front of their strong THz continuum as a probe of infall in the clumps. These detections include two clumps embedded in infrared dark clouds. The measured velocity shifts of the absorptions compared to optically thin C17O (3–2) emission are 0.3–2.8 km s-1, corresponding to fractions of 3% to 30% of the free-fall velocities of the clumps. The ammonia infall signature is compared with complementary data of different transitions of HCN, HNC, CS, and HCO+, which are often used to probe infall because of their blue-skewed line profiles. The best agreement with the ammonia results is found for the HCO+ (4–3) transitions, but the latter is still strongly blended with emission from associated outflows. This outflow signature is far less prominent in the THz ammonia lines, which confirms it as a powerful probe of infall in molecular clumps. Infall rates in the range from 0.3 to 16 × 10-3 M⊙/yr were derived with a tentative correlation with the virial parameters of the clumps. The new observations show that infall on clump scales is ubiquitous through a wide range of evolutionary stages, from L/M covering about ten to several hundreds.
