The Crucial Interplay of Laboratory Experiments, Observations and Theory to Unveil our Astrochemical Origins

Molecules are crucial tools to study and unveil the physical and chemical processes which govern the formation of stellar systems like our own. Molecules are unique tracers of kinematics, they probe gas temperature, volume densities, chemical compositions (important to test dynamical-chemical models), isotopic fractionation (to link star forming regions with the early evolutionary phases of our Solar System) and degree of ionisation, fundamental ingredient for the dynamical evolution of (magnetised) star-forming clouds. All these studies cannot be possible without the pivotal contribution of experimental and theoretical work to molecular astrophysics. Here, I'll present a journey from the earliest phases of star formation to protoplanetary disks, with links to our Solar System, highlighting the crucial interplay of laboratory experiments, observations and theory to shed light on our astrochemical origins.