Formation and evolution of molecules from intestellar clouds to protoplanetary disks

2019 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17K14245
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Astronomy
• Research Institution: University of Tsukuba
• Principal Investigator: Furuya Kenji 筑波大学, 計算科学研究センター, 助教 (80783711)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-04-01 – 2020-03-31
• Keywords: 星惑星形成 / 星間化学

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Stars and planetary systems like our solar system are formed in molecular clouds. It is known that various different types of molecules, including water and organic molecules, are present in molecular clouds. These molecules would ultimately become raw materials of planetary systems. In this project, I investigated the molecular evolution from molecular clouds to protoplanetary disks (the site where planetary systems are formed) mainly by numerical simulation. As the major achievements of this project, (i) I revealed nitrogen isotope fractionation mechanism in molecular clouds for the first time, and (ii) I developed a new numerical code, in which dust evolution and gas-ice chemistry are considered in a self-consistent manner.

Free Research Field

天文学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

隕石や彗星などの太陽系始原物質と、星と惑星形成の場である分子雲に含まれる分子には、窒素同位体の存在比異常が存在することが知られていた。しかし、窒素同位体の存在比異常がどのようなメカニズムで生じたかはよくわかっていなかった。本研究でそのメカニズムが明らかになったことで、窒素同位体の存在比を利用して、太陽系を含め、星と惑星系が生まれる際の物質進化の研究がさらに進展することが期待される。