A first look for molecules between 103 and 133MHz using the Murchison Widefield Array

Tremblay, C. and Hurley-Walker, N. and Cunningham, M. and Jones, P. and Hancock, P. and Wayth, R. and Jordan, C. 2017. A first look for molecules between 103 and 133MHz using the Murchison Widefield Array. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 471 (4): pp. 4144-4154.

Source Title

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

DOI

10.1093/mnras/stx1838

http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stx1838

ISSN

0035-8711

School

Curtin Institute of Radio Astronomy (Physics)

URI

http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/57960

Collection

Curtin Research Publications

Abstract

We detail and present results from a pilot study to assess the feasibility of detecting molecular lines at low radio frequencies. We observed a 400 square degree region centred on the Galactic Centre with the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) between 103 and 133\,MHz targeting 28 known molecular species that have significant transitions. The results of this survey yield tentative detections of nitric oxide (NO) and the mercapto radical (SH). Both of these molecules appear to be associated with evolved stars.