Prospective work for Alma, Herschel, Sofia : submillimeter-wave spectroscopy of complex organic molecules

Laboratoire PhLAM, Bât. P5, CNRS UMR 8523, Université Lille 1, 59655 Villeneuve d’Ascq Cedex, France ;
e-mail: therese.huet@univ-lille1.fr

Abstract

Laboratory analysis of spectra of potential interstellar molecules from the radio-frequency to the THz range is a prerequisite for their subsequent identification by radioastronomical techniques. The spectral analysis allows us to derive molecular parameters that are able to model the frequency and intensity patterns of the transitions, as well as to predict with a high degree of precision the frequencies of transitions not measured in the laboratory.