Formation of the methyl cation by photochemistry in a protoplanetary disk
/ Authors
O. Berné, M. Martin‐Drumel, I. Schroetter, J. Goicoechea, U. Jacovella, B. Gans, E. Dartois, L. Coudert, E. Bergin, Felipe Alarcón
and 46 more authors
J. Cami, È. Roueff, J. Black, O. Asvany, É. Habart, E. Peeters, A. Canin, B. Trahin, C. Joblin, S. Schlemmer, S. Thorwirth, J. Cernicharo, M. Gerin, A. Tielens, M. Zannese, A. Abergel, J. Bernard-Salas, C. Boersma, E. Bron, R. Chown, S. Cuadrado, D. Dicken, M. Elyajouri, A. Fuente, K. Gordon, Lina Issa, O. Kannavou, Baria Khan, O. Lacinbala, D. Languignon, R. Le Gal, A. Maragkoudakis, R. Meshaka, Y. Okada, T. Onaka, Sofia Pasquini, M. Pound, M. Robberto, M. Röllig, Bethany R. Schefter, T. Schirmer, A. Sidhu, B. Tabone, D. Van De Putte, S. Vicente, M. Wolfire
/ Abstract
Forty years ago, it was proposed that gas-phase organic chemistry in the interstellar medium can be initiated by the methyl cation CH_3^+ (refs. ^ 1 – 3 ), but so far it has not been observed outside the Solar System^ 4 , 5 . Alternative routes involving processes on grain surfaces have been invoked^ 6 , 7 . Here we report James Webb Space Telescope observations of CH_3^+ in a protoplanetary disk in the Orion star-forming region. We find that gas-phase organic chemistry is activated by ultraviolet irradiation. JWST observations of CH_3^+ in a protoplanetary disk in the Orion star-forming region are reported showing that gas-phase organic chemistry in the interstellar medium is activated by ultraviolet irradiation and the methyl cation.
Journal: Nature