Early phases of star formation: testing chemical tools

Abstract

The star forming processes strongly influence the ISM chemistry. Nowadays, there are available many high-quality databases at millimeter wavelengths. Using them, it is possible to carry out studies that review and deepen previous results. If these studies involve large samples of sources, it is preferred to use direct tools to study the molecular gas. With the aim of testing these tools such as the use of the HCN/HNC ratio as a thermometer, and the use of H$^{13}$CO$^{+}$, HC$_{3}$N, N$_{2}$H$^{+}$, and C$_{2}$H as "chemical clocks", we present a molecular line study towards 55 sources representing massive young stellar objects (MYSOs) at different evolutive stages: infrared dark clouds (IRDCs), high-mass protostellar objects (HMPOs), hot molecular cores (HMCs) and ultracompact HII regions (UCHII). We found that the use of HCN/HNC ratio as an universal thermometer in the ISM should be taken with care because the HCN optical depth is a big issue that can affect the method. Hence, this tool should be used only after a careful analysis of the HCN spectrum, checking that no line, neither the main nor the hyperfine ones, present absorption features. We point out that the analysis of the emission of H$^{13}$CO$^{+}$, HC$_{3}$N, N$_{2}$H$^{+}$, and C$_{2}$H could be useful to trace and distinguish regions among IRDCs, HMPOs and HMCs. The molecular line widths of these four species increase from the IRDC to the HMC stage, which can be a consequence of the gas dynamics related to the star-forming processes taking place in the molecular clumps. Our results do not only contribute with more statistics regarding to probe such chemical tools, useful to obtain information in large samples of sources, but also complement previous works through the analysis on other types of sources.