The following document lists the file abstract/SSANDFOR_OZONE.abs
from catalogue VI/111.
A plain copy of the file
(without headers/trailers) may be downloaded.
A large fraction of the interstellar oxygen inventory is currently unaccounted for. Based on both the results of laboratory studies and theoretical models it is clear that one possible reservoir for the missing oxygen may be in the form of ozone (O3), a molecule with a number of allowed infrared transitions in the 4 to 15 micron spectral region. In dense molecular clouds the ozone is expected to be present in the solid form, i.e. as an ice. Detection of interstellar ozone ices would be an important advance since it would not only account for some of the missing oxygen but would also provide a great deal of information about the conditions and physical/chemical processes occuring in interstellar dense molecular clouds. Atmospheric ozone makes it impossible to search for interstellar ozone using ground- based and airborne telescopes. A spaceborne platform is essential to probe for this potentially very important carrier of oxygen. This proposal requests ISO time to search for spectral evidence of ozone- containing ices in interstellar dense molecular clouds. Studies of ozone will provide insight into O-rich environments and, along with CO2 observations being made as part of the GTO program by D. Whittet, will give a good picture of the disposition of oxygen inside dense molecular clouds.