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Session 61 -- Molecular Clouds, Star Formation

Display presentation, Thursday, 9:20-4:00, Pauley Room

[61.04] The Abundance of $H_2D^+$ Ions in Cold Clouds

A steady--state chemistry of $H_2D^+$ is considered for interstellar dense clouds having temperatures in the range 10--30 K. It is shown that the observational data of $HCO^+$ and $DCO^+$ ions can be used to derive upper and lower bounds on the abundances of $H_3\, ^+$ and $H_2D^+$, and on the deuterium-- hydrogen cosmic abundance ratio. These data also yield lower bounds on the cosmic--ray ionization rate.

Thursday program listing