Hydroxylamine, NH<sub>2</sub>OH, in the Interstellar Medium
V. M. Rivilla, J. Martín-Pintado, I. Jiménez-Serra, S. Martín, L. F. Rodríguez-Almeida, M. A. Requena-Torres, F. Rico-Villas, S. Zeng, and C. Briones
reported on
Prebiotic Precursors of the Primordial RNA World in Space: Detection of NH<sub>2</sub>OH
Astrophys. J. 899, Art. No. L28 (2020).
The detection of five rotational transitions of the hydroxylamine were reported. The observations were part of an unbiased molecular line survey of the quiescent giant molecular cloud G+0.693−0.027, about 1' north-east of Sagittarius B2(N), with the IRAM 30 m dish at 3 and 2 mm. The a-type transitions cover J = 2−1, 3−2, and 4−3 near 100.7, 151.1, and 201.5 GHz. The formation of NH2OH appears to be favored by a high column density of NO. The NO to NH2OH ratio is about 1000. The inferred rotational temperature of 15 K is a value typical for dark clouds.
A plethora of unsuccessful searches for hydroxylamine have been reported in the literature, but these searches were all carried out toward star-forming regions. The non-observations thus far in hot cores or hot corinos or in their colder and less dense envelopes, however, rule out a prominent role of hydroxylamine as a prebiotic precursor of the primordial RNA world in space at present.
Contributor(s): H. S. P. Müller; 08, 2020