Tentative Detection of FeS toward Orion SrcI

Abstract

Iron sulfide (FeS) is a key refractory compound in astrophysical environments. It is commonly found in meteorites and evidence of FeS has only been reported in solid form in a protoplanetary environment. Furthermore, FeS is of astrobiological interest since it acts as a precursor to the formation of pyrite (FeS$_2$), which plays a key role in anaerobic metabolism. We present millimeter-wave spectroscopic calculations for gaseous FeS and report its tentative detection toward the massive disk Orion SrcI. If confirmed, this would constitute the first ever detection of gaseous FeS in the interstellar medium. Our data are consistent with a FeS column density of $\sim1.7 \times 10^{15}$ cm$^{-2}$. Comparing to other sulfur reservoirs, the amount of sulfur locked in FeS is more than three orders of magnitude lower than that contained in SO$_2$ and SiS. However, FeS emission may arise from a different region as it is the case for the metallic salt NaCl. Our results support the presence of FeS in interstellar grains and are consistent with grain destruction playing an important role in the origin of the FeS emission. The observations, however, are still insufficient to discern whether FeS is a main sulfur reservoir in molecular clouds or a primary carrier of refractory iron-bearing material.