Interstellar formaldehyde
Interstellar formaldehyde (a topic relevant to astrochemistry) was first discovered in 1969 by L. Snyder et al. using the National Radio Astronomy Observatory. Formaldehyde (H2CO) was detected by means of the 111 - 110 ground state rotational transition at 4830 MHz. On 11 August 2014, astronomers released studies, using the Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA) for the first time, that detailed the distribution of HCN, HNC, H2CO, and dust inside the comae of comets C/2012 F6 (Lemmon) and C/2012 S1 (ISON).
Formaldehyde was first discovered in interstellar space in 1969 by L. Snyder et al. using the National Radio Astronomy Observatory. H2CO was detected by means of the 111 - 110ground state rotational transition at 4830 MHz.
Formaldehyde was the first polyatomic organic molecule detected in the interstellar medium and since its initial detection has been observed in many regions of the galaxy. The isotopic ratio of [12C]/[13C] was determined to be about or less than 50% in the galactic disk. Formaldehyde has been used to map out kinematic features of dark clouds located near Gould's Belt of local bright stars. In 2007, the first H2CO 6 cm maser flare was detected. It was a short duration outburst in IRAS 18566 + 0408 that produced a line profile consistent with the superposition of two Gaussian components, which leads to the belief that an event outside the maser gas triggered simultaneous flares at two different locations. Although this was the first maser flare detected, H2 masers have been observed since 1974 by Downes and Wilson in NGC 7538. Unlike OH, H2O, and CH3OH, only five galactic star forming regions have associated formaldehyde maser emission, which has only been observed through the 110 → 111 transition.
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