DETECTION AND CONFIRMATION OF INTERSTELLAR ACETIC ACID

摘要

We have detected acetic acid (CH_3COOH) in the Sgr B2 Large Molecule Heimat source using the Berkeley-Illinois-Maryland Association (BIMA) Array and the Caltech Owens Valley Radio Observatory (OVRO) Millimeter Array. With the BIMA array, we initially detected the 8_(*,8)-7_(*,7) A blend near 90.2 GHz. The corresponding line from the E symmetry species was sought but may be blended with a line from another species. Interstellar CH_3COOH was confirmed using the OVRO array, with which we detected the 9_(*,9) - 8_(*,8) E blend near 100.9 GHz. The corresponding line from the A symmetry species was sought but was found to be blended with the 7_1-7_0 E line of CH_3SH. Our CH_3COOH observations represent the first detection and confirmation of an interstellar molecule using interferometric arrays; all past detections and confirmations of new molecules have been made on the basis of single-element telescope observations.