An experimental study of the surface formation of methane in
  interstellar molecular clouds
  Methane is one of the simplest stable molecules that is both abundant and
widely distributed across space. It is thought to have partial origin from
interstellar molecular clouds, which are near the beginning of the star
formation cycle. Observational surveys of CH$_4$ ice towards low- and high-mass
young stellar objects showed that much of the CH$_4$ is expected to be formed
by the hydrogenation of C on dust grains, and that CH$_4$ ice is strongly
correlated with solid H$_2$O. Yet, this has not been investigated under
controlled laboratory conditions, as carbon-atom chemistry of interstellar ice
analogues has not been experimentally realized. In this study, we successfully
demonstrate with a C-atom beam implemented in an ultrahigh vacuum apparatus the
formation of CH$_4$ ice in two separate co-deposition experiments: C + H on a
10 K surface to mimic CH$_4$ formation right before H$_2$O ice is formed on the
dust grain, and C + H + H$_2$O on a 10 K surface to mimic CH$_4$ formed
simultaneously with H$_2$O ice. We confirm that CH$_4$ can be formed by the
reaction of atomic C and H, and that the CH$_4$ formation rate is 2 times
greater when CH$_4$ is formed within a H$_2$O-rich ice. This is in agreement
with the observational finding that interstellar CH$_4$ and H$_2$O form
together in the polar ice phase, i.e., when C- and H-atoms simultaneously
accrete with O-atoms on dust grains. For the first time, the conditions that
lead to interstellar CH$_4$ (and CD$_4$) ice formation are reported, and can be
incorporated into astrochemical models to further constrain CH$_4$ chemistry in
the interstellar medium and in other regions where CH$_4$ is inherited.
