As the inventory of interstellar molecules continues to grow, the gulf between small species, whose individual rotational lines can be observed with radio telescopes, and large ones, such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons best studied in bulk via infrared and optical observations, is slowly being bridged. Understanding the connection between these two molecular reservoirs is critical to understanding the interstellar carbon cycle, but will require pushing the boundaries of how far we can probe molecular complexity while still retaining observational specificity. Towards this end, we present a method for detecting and characterizing new molecular species in single-dish observations towards sources with sparse line spectra. We have applied this method to data from the ongoing GOTHAM (GBT Observations of TMC-1: Hunting Aromatic Molecules) Green Bank Telescope large programme, discovering six new interstellar species. Here we highlight the detection of HC₁₁N, the largest cyanopolyyne in the interstellar medium.

随着星际分子数量的不断增加，小物种（其各自的旋转线可以用射电望远镜观察到）与大物种（例如通过红外和光学观测进行大量研究的多环芳烃）之间的鸿沟正在慢慢弥合. 了解这两个分子库之间的联系对于了解星际碳循环至关重要，但需要在保持观测特异性的同时探索分子复杂性的界限。为此，我们提出了一种检测和表征新分子物种的方法，该方法在单盘观测中对具有稀疏线谱的源进行。我们已将此方法应用于正在进行的 GOTHAM（TMC-1 的 GBT 观察：狩猎芳香分子）绿岸望远镜大计划，发现六种新的星际物种。这里我们重点介绍HC的检测₁₁ N，星际介质中最大的氰基聚炔。