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Gianfranco Vidali - Syracuse University

Wednesday, May 27 – 3:30-4:15PM

 

“Formation of molecules on dust grains in simulated interstellar conditions”

 

Certain key interstellar molecules form efficiently only on grains of interstellar dust. The extreme conditions under which they form in space are not the ones that are ordinarily explored in experimental or theoretical studies. In this presentation I will show how experiments designed to reproduce as technically feasible interstellar space environments can yield not only information that is useful to astronomers and modelers of the cloud chemical evolution, but also a few surprises as well. The talk is particularized to the formation of molecular hydrogen on dust grain analogues.

 

I am grateful to NASA (APRA and Origins of Solar Systems) and NSF (Astronomy) for financial support of this research over the years.

 

Related Reference(s):

G. Vidali, L. Li, J. E. Roser, and R. Badman, “Catalytic activity of interstellar grains: Formation of molecular hydrogen on amorphous silicates,” Adv. Space Res., 43, 1291-1298 (2009).

G. Vidali, J. Roser, G. Manico, V. Pirronello, H. B. Perets, and O. Biham, “Formation of molecular hydrogen on analogues of interstellar dust grains: experiments and modeling,” Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 6, 36-58 (2005).

Research Web-page: http://physics.syr.edu/astro