The Detection of a Hot Molecular Core in the Extreme Outer Galaxy

Interstellar chemistry in low-metallicity environments is crucial to understand chemical processes in the past metal-poor universe. Recent studies of interstellar molecules in nearby low-metallicity galaxies have suggested that metallicity has a significant effect on the chemistry of star-forming cores. Here we report the first detection of a hot molecular core in the extreme outer Galaxy, which is an excellent laboratory to study star formation and the interstellar medium in a Galactic low-metallicity environment. The target star-forming region, WB 89-789, is located at a galactocentric distance of 19 kpc. Our Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array observations in 241-246, 256-261, 337-341, and 349-353 GHz have detected a variety of carbon-, oxygen-, nitrogen-, sulfur-, and silicon-bearing species, including complex organic molecules (COMs) containing up to nine atoms, toward a warm (>100 K) and compact (