INFRARED MOLECULAR ABSORPTION IN CIRCUMSTELLAR ENVELOPES
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Date
1992
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Ohio State University
Abstract
Broadly speaking, the circumstellar envelope can be divided up into three regions. The innermost region, in and near the stellar photosphere, is where most molecules and, eventually, various condensates (soot, silicates etc) are formed. In the intermediate regime, radical and catalytic grain surface chemistry can proceed until the density drops sufficiently. In the outermost regime, the overall density is finally low enough to allow photolysis by the penetrating ambient interstellar UV radiation field. Ions created by this process drive ion-molecule chemistry which produces exotic species. Examples will be given of how infrared molecular spectroscopy allows us to probe the physics and chemistry occuring in these various regions.
Description
Author Institution: Theoretical Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory