Photoprocessing of methanol ice: Formation and liberation of CO

Smith, Houston H.

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/96883 Copy

Description

Title

Photoprocessing of methanol ice: Formation and liberation of CO

Author(s)

Smith, Houston H.

Contributor(s)

• Widicus Weaver, Susanna L.
• Milam, Stefanie N.
• Zinga, Samuel
• Mesko, A.J.

Issue Date

2017-06-21

Keyword(s)

Astronomy

Abstract

The relevance of interstellar ice to the chemical complexity of the interstellar medium has dramatically increased over the past 15 years. Previous astrochemical models including only gas-phase reactions were unable to explain the abundances of many complex organics observed in the interstellar medium. To correct for this, current models have added grain-surface chemistry as a source for some organic molecules that serve as building blocks to biologically-relevant complex organic compounds. We have therefore built a new experiment to investigate the gas-phase chemistry above interstellar ice analogs during thermal and photoprocessing using millimeter/submillimeter spectroscopy. Our first experiments have focused on pure methanol ices to 1) demonstrate this unique technique 2) optimize the experiment and 3) to compare our results with recent work by Cruz-Diaz et al. and Beltran_x000d_ et al. and do further analysis of products they are unable to measure (e.g. isomers CH3O and CH2OH). We have detected CO as a major product of methanol photoprocessing. But it is unclear from our initial results how the formation and photodesorption of CO from methanol ice is related to the ice temperature during the photoprocessing. We have therefore conducted two experiments: simultaneous photoprocessing and thermal desorption, and photoprocessing at a low temperature followed by temperature programmed desorption to liberate the CO. The initial results from both of these experiments will be presented in this talk, as well as the implications of these results for astrochemistry._x000d_

Publisher

International Symposium on Molecular Spectroscopy

Type of Resource

text

Language

eng

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/96883

DOI

https://doi.org/10.15278/isms.2017.WA06

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2017 Houston H. Smith

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