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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Astron. Space Sci.
Sec. Astrochemistry
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fspas.2024.1489982
This article is part of the Research Topic Chemical Diversity of Circumstellar Envelopes Around Evolved Stars View all 4 articles

Exploring the possibility of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and fulleranes as the carrier of the 21 micron emission feature

Provisionally accepted
Xuan-Xiang Liao Xuan-Xiang Liao 1Yong Zhang Yong Zhang 1*Seyedabdolreza Sadjadi Seyedabdolreza Sadjadi 2
  • 1 Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
  • 2 Laboratory for Space Research, Faculty of Science, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong, SAR China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The 21 µm emission feature discovered in a small sample of carbon-rich protoplanetary nebulae has remained unidentified for over 30 years. A dozen of different molecular species (both organics and inorganics) have been proposed as the carrier candidates of this important feature, among which polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and fulleranes (hydrogenated fullerenes) have yet to be sufficiently examined. In this study, we attempt to fit the 21 µm features in observed spectra of the above-mentioned astronomical sources via theoretically simulated spectra of various PAHs and fulleranes, aiming to investigate whether the two hydrocarbon families can reproduce the 21 µm feature. Based on the fitting outcomes we conclude that fulleranes can provide a more plausible explanation for the origin of 21 µm feature than PAHs.

    Keywords: infrared, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, Fullerenes, Fulleranes, protoplanetary nebulae, astrochemistry

    Received: 02 Sep 2024; Accepted: 25 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Liao, Zhang and Sadjadi. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Yong Zhang, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China

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