Tracing our chemical origins: interstellar complex organic molecules from protostellar disks to Solar System comets

How does the chemical complexity evolve during the process leading to the formation of a Sun and its planetary system? Is the chemical richness of a Solar-like planetary system at least partially inherited from the earliest stages, or is there a complete chemical reset? A powerful approach to start addressing these questions is by comparing the observed astrochemical content in young protostellar disks with that found in comets—i.e., with the most pristine known material from which our Solar System formed.

The protostellar disk phase is characterized by the blooming of molecular complexity: when the inner regions (~100 au) are heated to temperatures greater than 100 K, dust mantle products thermally sublimate and enrich the chemical composition of the gas (the so-called hot-corino phase).  Additionally, dramatic changes in molecular abundances are expected due to warm gas chemistry. Several lines of evidence suggest that planets could begin forming very early when the protostellar disk is still deeply embedded in a prominent envelope (less than 1 Myr). Consequently, young protostellar disks in the Class 0/I stage serve as the perfect laboratory to study the initial conditions and chemical content of planetesimal formation.

I will present abundance ratios of interstellar complex organic molecules measured in young Class 0/I protostellar disks and compare them with those measured in the 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko and other comets. I will emphasize possible evolutionary trends to investigate the inheritance scenario.