The first detection of SiC$_2$ in the interstellar medium

• Main Authors: Massalkhi, S, Jiménez-Serra, I, Martín-Pintado, J, Rivilla, V. M, Colzi, L, Zeng, S, Martín, S, Tercero, B, de Vicente, P, Requena-Torres, M. A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 18.08.2023
• Subjects: Physics - Astrophysics of Galaxies
• DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2308.09459

A&A 678, A45 (2023) We report the first detection of SiC$_2$ in the interstellar medium. The molecule was identified through six rotational transitions toward G\,+0.693$-$0.027, a molecular cloud located in the Galactic center. The detection is based on a line survey carried out with the GBT, the Yebes 40m, and the IRAM 30m telescopes covering a range of frequencies from 12 to 276 GHz. We fit the observed spectra assuming local thermodynamic equilibrium and derive a column density of ($1.02\pm0.04)\times10^{13}$ cm$^{-2}$, which gives a fractional abundance of $7.5\times10^{-11}$ with respect to H$_2$, and an excitation temperature of $5.9\pm0.2$ K. We conclude that SiC$_2$ can be formed in the shocked gas by a reaction between the sputtered atomic silicon and C$_2$H$_2$, or it can be released directly from the dust grains due to disruption. We also search for other Si-bearing molecules and detect eight rotational transitions of SiS and four transitions of Si$^{18}$O. The derived fractional abundances are $3.9\times10^{-10}$ and $2.1\times10^{-11}$, respectively. All Si-bearing species toward G\,+0.693$-$0.027 show fractional abundances well below what is typically found in late-type evolved stars.