INTERSTELLAR CARBODIIMIDE (HNCNH): A NEW ASTRONOMICAL DETECTION FROM THE GBT PRIMOS SURVEY VIA MASER EMISSION FEATURES

In this work, we identify carbodiimide (HNCNH), which is an isomer of the well-known interstellar species cyanamide (NH2CN), in weak maser emission, using data from the Green Bank Telescope PRIMOS survey toward Sgr B2(N). All spectral lines observed are in emission and have energy levels in excess of 170 K, indicating that the molecule likely resides in relatively hot gas that characterizes the denser regions of this star-forming region. The anticipated abundance of this molecule from ice mantle experiments is ∼10% of the abundance of NH2CN, which in Sgr B2(N) corresponds to ∼2 × 1013 cm–2. Such an abundance results in transition intensities well below the detection limit of any current astronomical facility and, as such, HNCNH could only be detected by those transitions which are amplified by masing.