GBT24A-184

Searching for fullerene-related species in space with the GBT

Abstract

The detection of fullerenes (C60 and C70) in Planetary Nebulae (C60-PNe) and diverse astrophysical environments raises the exciting possibility that other complex fullerene-related species (e.g., fullerene-adducts, metallofullerenes) might be ubiquitous in the Universe and continue to be serious candidates to explain many astrophysical phenomena. Previous space-based observations of C60-PNe together with laboratory/theoretical work show that fullerene-related species cannot be unambiguously distinguished from their isolated counterparts in the IR domain. Species like metallofullerenes, fullerene-adducts or -fragments display a significant dipolar moment and the radio domain thus offers a unique opportunity to detect for the first time fullerene-related species in space. We propose sensitive GBT radio observations towards the brightest C60-PN IC 418 at the C and X bands to search for additional unidentified features potentially due to fullerene-related species. The proposed observations will create a unique data set of high archival value and will be a step forward for understanding fullerene formation in space as well as the role of this special molecule/s in the organic chemistry in the Universe.

Investigators

Name	Institution
Teresa Huertas-Roldan *	Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias
Jose Jairo Diaz-Luis	Instituto Geográfico Nacional
Javier Alcolea	Instituto Geográfico Nacional
Domingo Anibal Garcia Hernandez	Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias
Valentin Bujarrabal	Instituto Geográfico Nacional
Ransel Barzaga Guzman	Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias
Arturo Manchado	Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias
SeyedAbdolreza Sadjadi	Hong Kong, University of

* indicates the PI