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Detection of CH3+ in the O-rich planetary nebula NGC 6302

Fuente: arXiv

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Main Authors:	Bhatt, Charmi, Cami, Jan, Peeters, Els, Clark, Nicholas, Baez, Paula Moraga, Volk, Kevin, Sloan, G. C., Kastner, Joel H., Dinerstein, Harriet L., Matsuura, Mikako, Balick, Bruce, Kraemer, Kathleen E., Justtanont, Kay, Jones, Olivia, Sahai, Raghvendra, Aleman, Isabel, Barlow, Michael J., Bernard-Salas, Jeronimo, Blommaert, Joris, Hirano, Naomi, Kavanagh, Patrick, Kemper, Francisca, Lagadec, Eric, Laming, J. Martin, Molster, Frank, Monteiro, Hektor, Richards, Anita M. S., Sterling, N. C., Torki, Maryam, van Hoof, Peter A. M., Walsh, Jeremy R., Waters, L. B. F. M., Wesson, Roger, Wilson, Finnbar, Wright, Nicholas J., Zijlstra, Albert A.
Format:	Preprint
Published:	2025
Subjects:	Astrophysics of Galaxies
Online Access:	Acceder al recurso
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_version_	1866915500854870016
author	Bhatt, Charmi Cami, Jan Peeters, Els Clark, Nicholas Baez, Paula Moraga Volk, Kevin Sloan, G. C. Kastner, Joel H. Dinerstein, Harriet L. Matsuura, Mikako Balick, Bruce Kraemer, Kathleen E. Justtanont, Kay Jones, Olivia Sahai, Raghvendra Aleman, Isabel Barlow, Michael J. Bernard-Salas, Jeronimo Blommaert, Joris Hirano, Naomi Kavanagh, Patrick Kemper, Francisca Lagadec, Eric Laming, J. Martin Molster, Frank Monteiro, Hektor Richards, Anita M. S. Sterling, N. C. Torki, Maryam van Hoof, Peter A. M. Walsh, Jeremy R. Waters, L. B. F. M. Wesson, Roger Wilson, Finnbar Wright, Nicholas J. Zijlstra, Albert A.
author_facet	Bhatt, Charmi Cami, Jan Peeters, Els Clark, Nicholas Baez, Paula Moraga Volk, Kevin Sloan, G. C. Kastner, Joel H. Dinerstein, Harriet L. Matsuura, Mikako Balick, Bruce Kraemer, Kathleen E. Justtanont, Kay Jones, Olivia Sahai, Raghvendra Aleman, Isabel Barlow, Michael J. Bernard-Salas, Jeronimo Blommaert, Joris Hirano, Naomi Kavanagh, Patrick Kemper, Francisca Lagadec, Eric Laming, J. Martin Molster, Frank Monteiro, Hektor Richards, Anita M. S. Sterling, N. C. Torki, Maryam van Hoof, Peter A. M. Walsh, Jeremy R. Waters, L. B. F. M. Wesson, Roger Wilson, Finnbar Wright, Nicholas J. Zijlstra, Albert A.
contents	Planetary nebulae are sites where ejected stellar material evolves into complex molecules, but the precise physical conditions and chemical routes that govern these processes are unclear. The presence of abundant carbon-rich molecules in O-rich environments poses particular challenges. Here we report the first detection of methyl cation (CH3+) in any planetary nebula, observed in the O-rich nebula NGC 6302 using JWST MIRI/MRS observations. CH3+ is a key driver of organic chemistry in UV-irradiated environments. Spatially resolved observations reveal that CH3+ is co-located with 12CO, H2, H II, HCO+, and Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). LTE modelling of the CH3+ emission yields excitation temperatures of 500-800K in the inner bubble and torus, rising to 1000-2000K in the outer bubble of NGC 6302, with column densities ranging from ~10^11 to 10^13 cm^-2. This detection demonstrates that hydrocarbon radical chemistry must be incorporated into planetary nebulae chemical models. Further near-IR observations are crucial to map different chemical networks operating in these environments.
format	Preprint
id	arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2509_14556
institution	arXiv
publishDate	2025
record_format	arxiv
spellingShingle	Detection of CH3+ in the O-rich planetary nebula NGC 6302 Bhatt, Charmi Cami, Jan Peeters, Els Clark, Nicholas Baez, Paula Moraga Volk, Kevin Sloan, G. C. Kastner, Joel H. Dinerstein, Harriet L. Matsuura, Mikako Balick, Bruce Kraemer, Kathleen E. Justtanont, Kay Jones, Olivia Sahai, Raghvendra Aleman, Isabel Barlow, Michael J. Bernard-Salas, Jeronimo Blommaert, Joris Hirano, Naomi Kavanagh, Patrick Kemper, Francisca Lagadec, Eric Laming, J. Martin Molster, Frank Monteiro, Hektor Richards, Anita M. S. Sterling, N. C. Torki, Maryam van Hoof, Peter A. M. Walsh, Jeremy R. Waters, L. B. F. M. Wesson, Roger Wilson, Finnbar Wright, Nicholas J. Zijlstra, Albert A. Astrophysics of Galaxies Planetary nebulae are sites where ejected stellar material evolves into complex molecules, but the precise physical conditions and chemical routes that govern these processes are unclear. The presence of abundant carbon-rich molecules in O-rich environments poses particular challenges. Here we report the first detection of methyl cation (CH3+) in any planetary nebula, observed in the O-rich nebula NGC 6302 using JWST MIRI/MRS observations. CH3+ is a key driver of organic chemistry in UV-irradiated environments. Spatially resolved observations reveal that CH3+ is co-located with 12CO, H2, H II, HCO+, and Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). LTE modelling of the CH3+ emission yields excitation temperatures of 500-800K in the inner bubble and torus, rising to 1000-2000K in the outer bubble of NGC 6302, with column densities ranging from ~10^11 to 10^13 cm^-2. This detection demonstrates that hydrocarbon radical chemistry must be incorporated into planetary nebulae chemical models. Further near-IR observations are crucial to map different chemical networks operating in these environments.
title	Detection of CH3+ in the O-rich planetary nebula NGC 6302
topic	Astrophysics of Galaxies
url	https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.14556