Probing the chemical environments of early star formation : a multidisciplinary approach
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Authors
Hardegree-Ullman, Emily Elizabeth
Issue Date
2014-05
Type
Electronic thesis
Thesis
Thesis
Language
ENG
Keywords
Multidisciplinary science
Alternative Title
Abstract
Chemical compositions of prestellar and protostellar environments in the dense interstellar medium are best quantified using a multidisciplinary approach. For my dissertation, I completed two projects to measure molecular abundances during the earliest phases of star formation. The first project investigates gas phase CO depletion in molecular cloud cores, the progenitors of star systems, using infrared photometry and molecular line spectroscopy at radio wavelengths. Hydrogenation of CO depleted onto dust is an important first step toward building complex organic molecules. The second project constrains polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) abundances toward young stellar objects (YSO). Band strengths measured from laboratory spectroscopy of pyrene/water ice mixtures were applied to estimate abundances from features attributed to PAHs in observational YSO spectra. PAHs represent a distinct but important component of interstellar organic material that is widely observed but not well quantified in star-forming regions.
Description
May 2014
School of Science
School of Science
Full Citation
Publisher
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY