McCall B J, Geballe T R, Hinkle K H, Oka T
Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.
Science. 1998 Mar 20;279(5358):1910-3. doi: 10.1126/science.279.5358.1910.
The molecular ion H3+ is considered the cornerstone of interstellar chemistry because it initiates the reactions responsible for the production of many larger molecules. Recently discovered in dense molecular clouds, H3+ has now been observed in the diffuse interstellar medium toward Cygnus OB2 No. 12. Analysis of H3+ chemistry suggests that the high H3+ column density (3.8 x 10(14) per square centimeter) is due not to a high H3+ concentration but to a long absorption path. This and other work demonstrate the ubiquity of H3+ and its potential as a probe of the physical and chemical conditions in the interstellar medium.
分子离子H3+被认为是星际化学的基石，因为它引发了许多较大分子产生的反应。H3+最近在致密分子云中被发现，现在已在朝向天鹅座OB2 12号星的弥漫星际介质中观测到。对H3+化学性质的分析表明，高H3+柱密度（每平方厘米3.8×10¹⁴）并非由于高H3+浓度，而是由于长吸收路径。这项研究以及其他工作证明了H3+的普遍存在及其作为星际介质物理和化学条件探测器的潜力。
