Welcome to the COMPASS website

Complex Organic Molecules in Protostars with ALMA Spectral Surveys (COMPASS) is an Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) Large Program (2022.1.00316.L) to systematically characterize complex organic chemistry in a sample of 11 deeply embedded Solar-type (low-mass) protostars known to harbor warm gas that shows emission from complex organic molecules. Our Large Program was awarded 125 hours of observing time on ALMA’s 12-m array in Cycle 9 (2022).

With COMPASS, we can address the following key science questions:

• What are the physical, environmental, and evolutionary regulators of the formation of complex organics?
• Is there a universal outcome of interstellar chemistry in terms of complex organics?
• And ultimately: how much diversity in organic inventories do we expect for planetary systems?