The paper proposes the iSEEDs project to integrate machine learning with astrochemistry for extracting physical conditions and molecular abundances from protostellar disk datasets.
Seeds of Life in Space (SOLIS) III. Formamide in protostellar shocks: evidence for gas-phase formation
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abstract
Context: Modern versions of the Miller-Urey experiment claim that formamide (NH$_2$CHO) could be the starting point for the formation of metabolic and genetic macromolecules. Intriguingly, formamide is indeed observed in regions forming Solar-type stars as well as in external galaxies. Aims: How NH$_2$CHO is formed has been a puzzle for decades: our goal is to contribute to the hotly debated question of whether formamide is mostly formed via gas-phase or grain surface chemistry. Methods: We used the NOEMA interferometer to image NH$_2$CHO towards the L1157-B1 blue-shifted shock, a well known interstellar laboratory, to study how the components of dust mantles and cores released into the gas phase triggers the formation of formamide. Results: We report the first spatially resolved image (size $\sim$ 9", $\sim$ 2300 AU) of formamide emission in a shocked region around a Sun-like protostar: the line profiles are blueshifted and have a FWHM $\simeq$ 5 km s$^{-1}$. A column density of $N_{\rm NH_2CHO}$ = 8 $\times$ 10$^{12}$ cm$^{-1}$, and an abundance (with respect to H-nuclei) of 4 $\times$ 10$^{-9}$ are derived. We show a spatial segregation of formamide with respect to other organic species. Our observations, coupled with a chemical modelling analysis, indicate that the formamide observed in L1157-B1 is formed by gas-phase chemical process, and not on grain surfaces as previously suggested. Conclusions: The SOLIS interferometric observations of formamide provide direct evidence that this potentially crucial brick of life is efficiently formed in the gas-phase around Sun-like protostars.
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astro-ph.SR 2years
2026 2verdicts
UNVERDICTED 2representative citing papers
SKAO, especially SKA-Mid Band 5, is expected to overcome dust opacity and frequency limits to detect complex prebiotic molecules in high-mass and solar-type protostellar regions.
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Astrochemical Study of Early Embedded Disks
The paper proposes the iSEEDs project to integrate machine learning with astrochemistry for extracting physical conditions and molecular abundances from protostellar disk datasets.
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Chemical Complexity in the Early Stages of Star Formation in the SKAO Era
SKAO, especially SKA-Mid Band 5, is expected to overcome dust opacity and frequency limits to detect complex prebiotic molecules in high-mass and solar-type protostellar regions.