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In a recent review, McGuire notes that 204 individual molecular
species, comprised of 16 different elements, have been detected in the
interstellar and circumstellar medium by astronomical
observations. These molecules range in size from two atoms to seventy,
and have been detected across the electromagnetic spectrum from
cm-wavelengths to the ultraviolet.
McGuire's paper presents a summary of the first detection of each
molecular species, including the observational facility, wavelength
range, transitions, and enabling laboratory spectroscopic work. The
Parkes telescope has played a role in the discovery of several
astromolecules, and the image above is of one of these -
thioformaldehyde (H2CS). The yellow sphere represents the sulphur atom,
the grey sphere, carbon, and the white(ish) spheres, hydrogen.
The website www.astrochymist.org has
previously featured thioformaldeyde as its
Astromolecule of the month.
(Image credit: www.astrochymist.org)
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