Context. Complex organic molecules with three carbon atoms are found in the earliest stages of star formation. In particular, propenal (C 2 H 3 CHO) is a species of interest due to its implication in the formation of more complex species and even biotic molecules. Aims. This study aims to search for the presence of C 2 H 3 CHO and other three-carbon species such as propylene (C 3 H 6) in the hot corino region of the low-mass protostellar binary IRAS 16293-2422 to understand their formation pathways. Methods. We use ALMA observations in Band 6 and 7 from various surveys to search for the presence of C 3 H 6 and C 2 H 3 CHO towards the protostar IRAS 16293-2422 B (IRAS 16293B). The identification of the species and the estimates of the column densities and excitation temperatures are carried out by modeling the observed spectrum under the assumption of local thermodynamical equilibrium. Results. We report the detection of both C 3 H 6 and C 2 H 3 CHO towards IRAS 16293B, however, no unblended lines were found towards the other component of the binary system, IRAS 16293A. We derive column density upper limits for C 3 H 8 , HCCCHO, n-C 3 H 7 OH, i-C 3 H 7 OH, C 3 O, and cis-HC(O)CHO towards IRAS 16293B. We then use a three-phase chemical model to simulate the formation of these species in a typical prestellar environment followed by its hydrodynamical collapse until the birth of the central protostar. Different formation paths, such as successive hydrogenation and radical-radical additions on grain surfaces, are tested and compared to the observational results in a number of different simulations, to assess which are the dominant formation mechanisms in the most embedded region of the protostar. Conclusions. The simulations reproduce the abundances within one order of magnitude from those observed towards IRAS 16293B, with the best agreement found for a rate of 10 −12 cm 3 s −1 for the gas-phase reaction C 3 + O → C 2 + CO. Successive hydrogenations of C 3 , HC(O)CHO, and CH 3 OCHO on grain surfaces are a major and crucial formation route of complex organics molecules, whereas both successive hydrogenation pathways and radical-radical addition reactions contribute to the formation of C 2 H 5 CHO.

Deuterated methanol is one of the most robust windows astrochemists have on the individual chemical reactions forming deuterium-bearing molecules and the physicochemical history of the regions where they reside. The first-time detection of mono- and di-deuterated methanol in a cometary coma is presented for comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko using Rosetta–ROSINA data. D-methanol (CH3OD and CH2DOH combined) and D2-methanol (CH2DOD and CHD2OH combined) have an abundance of 5.5 ± 0.46 and 0.00069 ± 0.00014 per cent relative to normal methanol. The data span a methanol deuteration fraction (D/H ratio) in the 0.71 − 6.6 per cent range, accounting for statistical corrections for the location of D in the molecule and including statistical error propagation in the ROSINA measurements. It is argued that cometary CH2DOH forms from CO hydrogenation to CH3OH and subsequent H-D substitution reactions in CH3-R. CHD2OH is likely produced from deuterated formaldehyde. Meanwhile, CH3OD and CH2DOD, could form via H-D exchange reactions in OH-R in the presence of deuterated water ice. Methanol formation and deuteration is argued to occur at the same epoch as D2O formation from HDO, with formation of mono-deuterated water, hydrogen sulfide, and ammonia occurring prior to that. The cometary D-methanol/methanol ratio is demonstrated to agree most closely with that in prestellar cores and low-mass protostellar regions. The results suggest that cometary methanol stems from the innate cold (10 − 20 K) prestellar core that birthed our Solar System. Cometary volatiles individually reflect the evolutionary phases of star formation from cloud to core to protostar.

Physicochemical models can be powerful tools to trace the chemical evolution of a protostellar system and allow to constrain its physical conditions at formation. The aim of this work is to assess whether source-tailored modelling is needed to explain the observed molecular abundances around young, low-mass protostars or if, and to what extent, generic models can improve our understanding of the chemistry in the earliest stages of star formation. The physical conditions and the abundances of simple, most abundant molecules based on three models are compared. After establishing the discrepancies between the calculated chemical output, the calculations are redone with the same chemical model for all three sets of physical input parameters. With the differences arising from the chemical models eliminated, the output is compared based on the influence of the physical model. Results suggest that the impact of the chemical model is small compared to the influence of the physical conditions, with considered timescales having the most drastic effect. Source-tailored models may be simpler by design; however, likely do not sufficiently constrain the physical and chemical parameters within the global picture of star-forming regions. Generic models with more comprehensive physics may not provide the optimal match to observations of a particular protostellar system, but allow a source to be studied in perspective of other star-forming regions.

Monodeuterated methanol is thought to form during the prestellar core stage of star formation. Observed variations in the CH2DOH/CH3OD ratio suggest that its formation is strongly dependent on the surrounding cloud conditions. Thus, it is a potential tracer of the physical conditions before the onset of star formation. A single-point physical model representative of a typical prestellar core is coupled to chemical models to investigate potential formation pathways toward deuterated methanol at the prestellar stage. Simple addition reactions of H and D are not able to reproduce observed abundances. The implementation of an experimentally verified abstraction scheme leads to the efficient formation of methyl-deuterated methanol, but lacks sufficient formation of hydroxy-deuterated methanol. CH3OD is most likely formed at a later evolutionary stage, potentially from H–D exchange reactions in warm ices between HDO (and D2O) and CH3OH. The CH2DOH/CH3OD ratio is not an appropriate tracer of the physical conditions during the prestellar stage, but might be better suited as a tracer of ice heating.

Planets orbiting young, active stars are embedded in an environment that is far from being as calm as the present solar neighbourhood. They experience the extreme environments of their host stars, which cannot have been without consequences for young stellar systems and the evolution of Earth-like planets to habitable worlds. Stellar magnetism and the related stellar activity are crucial drivers of ionization, photodissociation, and chemistry. Stellar winds can compress planetary magnetospheres and even strip away the outer layers of their atmospheres, thus having an enormous impact on the atmospheres and the magnetospheres of surrounding exoplanets. Modelling of stellar magnetic fields and their winds is extremely challenging, both from the observational and the theoretical points of view, and only ground breaking advances in observational instrumentation and a deeper theoretical understanding of magnetohydrodynamic processes in stars enable us to model stellar magnetic fields and their winds – and the resulting influence on the atmospheres of surrounding exoplanets – in more and more detail. We have initiated a national and international research network (NFN): ‘Pathways to Habitability – From Disks to Active Stars, Planets to Life’, to address questions on the formation and habitability of environments in young, active stellar/planetary systems. We discuss the work we are carrying out within this project and focus on how stellar evolutionary aspects in relation to activity, magnetic fields and winds influence the erosion of planetary atmospheres in the habitable zone. We present recent results of our theoretical and observational studies based on Zeeman Doppler Imaging (ZDI), field extrapolation methods, wind simulations, and the modeling of planetary upper atmospheres.