Molecular Life-Time against Photodissociation in Dark Interstellar Clouds

Molecules in the interstellar space are exposed to interstellar radiation, so that they are destroyed by photodissociation processes, leading to the production of smaller molecules and ions, which in turn can react with other molecular species. Therefore, dissociation rates and dissociation products are important for the chemistry of interstellar molecules. This holds true also for relatively opaque and dense clouds (τ ≲ 10 in the visual), due to the multiple scattering of UV radiation by dust.