Ultraviolet photolysis of H<sub>2</sub>S and its implications for SH radical production in the interstellar medium.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 32210241.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-020-15343-4 and PMC identifier 7093389.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Hydrogen sulfide radicals in the ground state, SH(X), and hydrogen disulfide molecules, H<sub>2</sub>S, are both detected in the interstellar medium, but the returned SH(X)/H<sub>2</sub>S abundance ratios imply a depletion of the former relative to that predicted by current models (which assume that photon absorption by H<sub>2</sub>S at energies below the ionization limit results in H + SH photoproducts). Here we report that translational spectroscopy measurements of the H atoms and S(<sup>1</sup>D) atoms formed by photolysis of jet-cooled H<sub>2</sub>S molecules at many wavelengths in the range 122 ≤ λ ≤155 nm offer a rationale for this apparent depletion; the quantum yield for forming SH(X) products, Γ, decreases from unity (at the longest excitation wavelengths) to zero at short wavelengths. Convoluting the wavelength dependences of Γ, the H<sub>2</sub>S parent absorption and the interstellar radiation field implies that only ~26% of photoexcitation events result in SH(X) products. The findings suggest a need to revise the relevant astrochemical models.