Abstract
Detections of extragalactic HC15N are reported from the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) and the core of the (post-) starburst galaxy NGC4945. The LMC data from the massive star-forming region N113 directly infer 14N/15N = 114 ± 14. For the LMC star-forming region N159 and for the central region of NGC4945, the use of a ‘reasonable’ carbon isotope ratio (of order 50) also yields 14N/15N ~ 100. These ratios are smaller than all interstellar nitrogen isotope ratios measured in the disk and center of the Milky Way, strongly supporting the idea that 15N is synthesized by massive stars. Although contradicting standard stellar evolution and nucleosynthesis calculations, this supports recent findings of abundant 15N production caused by rotationally induced mixing of protons into the helium burning shells of massive stars.
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Henkel, C., Chin, Yn., Langer, N., Mauersberger, R. (1999). Detection of Extragalactic 15N: Nitrogen Nucleosynthesis and Chemical Evolution. In: Walsh, J.R., Rosa, M.R. (eds) Chemical Evolution from Zero to High Redshift. ESO Astrophysics Symposia. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-48360-1_23
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-48360-1_23
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