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Chemistry

Mystery of an interstellar ion

Nature volume 412, pages 871–872 (2001)Cite this article

Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the Universe. Its chemistry governs most reactions in space, especially when it is ionized. But the abundance of the H3+ ion is not easy to explain.

The elementary molecular ion H3+ is a basic building block of interstellar chemistry and star formation. Yet its abundance in diffuse molecular clouds is hard to understand. Much of the debate about H3+ has centred on its rate of destruction by interstellar electrons — a rate that varies wildly depending on which calculation or measurement you use. But on page 891 of this issue, Kokoouline et al.1 report a new calculation that might reconcile these contradictory results, thanks to the inclusion of a previously overlooked molecular effect.

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Figure 1: Bridging the gap between theory and experiment.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire de Photophysique Moléculaire, Université Paris-Sud, Orsay, France

    Annick Suzor-Weiner

  2. Department of Physics, Université du Havre, France

    Ioan F. Schneider

Authors
  1. Annick Suzor-Weiner
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  2. Ioan F. Schneider
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Suzor-Weiner , A., Schneider, I. Mystery of an interstellar ion. Nature 412, 871–872 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/35091186

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