From clouds to comets: tracing the molecular journey of interstellar ices in the JWST era

Slavičinská, K.

doi:doi:10.60602/1887-4305137

In cold, dense regions of the interstellar medium, volatile molecules essential to the formation of planets and life form efficiently as ice layers on the surfaces of interstellar dust grains. During star and planet formation, these icy grains form envelopes around protostars and feed their growing protoplanetary disks, where planets form. Thus, interstellar ices are primary ingredients of planetary systems. Their chemical contents can be probed with a combination of observational and laboratory infrared (IR) spectroscopy, but much of their rich chemistry still remains unprobed due to the limited sensitivity, resolution, and spectral coverage of previous IR telescopes as well as scarcities in laboratory data. Furthermore, it is still uncertain to what degree primordial interstellar ices are transformed throughout star formation before accretion by planetary bodies. This thesis addresses these deficiencies using a combined observational and laboratory approach. It presents new...Show moreIn cold, dense regions of the interstellar medium, volatile molecules essential to the formation of planets and life form efficiently as ice layers on the surfaces of interstellar dust grains. During star and planet formation, these icy grains form envelopes around protostars and feed their growing protoplanetary disks, where planets form. Thus, interstellar ices are primary ingredients of planetary systems. Their chemical contents can be probed with a combination of observational and laboratory infrared (IR) spectroscopy, but much of their rich chemistry still remains unprobed due to the limited sensitivity, resolution, and spectral coverage of previous IR telescopes as well as scarcities in laboratory data. Furthermore, it is still uncertain to what degree primordial interstellar ices are transformed throughout star formation before accretion by planetary bodies. This thesis addresses these deficiencies using a combined observational and laboratory approach. It presents new laboratory IR spectra and band strengths of interstellar ice analogs containing molecules of current astronomical interest, with a focus on species detected in protostellar hot cores and in comets. These laboratory data are subsequently utilized in combination with observational data from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to search for, quantify, and characterize ices in star- and planet-forming regions.
Show less

Leiden University Scholarly Publications

View statistics

Documents

In Collections

From clouds to comets: tracing the molecular journey of interstellar ices in the JWST era