Heating of interstellar gas by large molecules or small grains

The heating of the interstellar medium by photoelectric emission from large molecules or small grains is explored. Photodetachment of large negative ions may be a significant heat source in diffuse clouds. For an abundance of large molecules relative to hydrogen greater than 2×10-7, the heating rate from the photoelectrons produced in the photoionization of large molecules and the photodetachment of large molecular negative ions exceeds the standard grain-heating rate. Theoretical models have been used to infer the abundances of large molecules from the C+/C abundance ratios in the interstellar clouds toward ζ Oph and ζ Per.