Related papers: Electron-induced CO2 and hydrocarbon sputtering of…
The surfaces of some icy moons, such as Jupiter's moon Europa, are heavily bombarded by energetic particles that can alter the surface materials and affect the composition of its exosphere. Detection of CO2 on Europa's surface indicate that…
Irradiation by energetic ions, electrons, and UV photons induces sputtering and chemical processes (radiolysis) in the surfaces of icy moons, comets, and icy grains. Laboratory experiments, both of ideal surfaces and of more complex and…
Observations of Europa's leading hemisphere reveal elevated H2O2 in the warmer, low latitude chaos terrains compared to the colder, polar regions. This distribution disagrees with prior laboratory radiolysis studies of pure water ice, which…
The detection of CO2 on the Jovian satellite Europa by Galileo NIMS and recent mapping of the leading side by JWST has revealed that it is most concentrated in geologically young terrains, and its v3 asymmetric stretch appears as a spectral…
Electron irradiation of water-rich ices plays a significant role in initiating the chemical and physical processes on the surface of airless icy bodies in radiation environments such as Europa and Enceladus, as well as on the Moon, comets,…
We consider super-Earth sized planets which have a water mass fraction that is large enough to form an external mantle composed of high pressure water ice polymorphs and that lack a substantial H/He atmosphere. We consider such planets in…
Radiative cooling by molecules is a crucial process for hydrodynamic escape, as it can efficiently remove the thermal energy driving the outflow, acquired through X-ray and extreme UV absorption. Carbon oxides, such as CO and CO2, and their…
The isotopic signature of atmospheric carbon offers a unique tracer for the history of the Martian atmosphere and the origin of organic matter on Mars. Photolysis of CO$_{2}$ is known to induce strong isotopic fractionation of carbon…
Interstellar ice mantles on the surfaces of dust grains are thought to have a bi-layered structure, with a H2O-rich polar layer, covered by a CO-rich apolar layer that probably harbors H2 and other volatiles such as N2. In this work, we…
We report a combined experimental and theoretical study on the formation of O2+ by electronimpact double ionization and fragmentation of carbon dioxide (CO2) molecule. Through fragment ions and electron coincidence momentum imaging, we…
Water ice is abundant both astrophysically, for example in molecular clouds, and in planetary systems. The Kuiper belt objects, many satellites of the outer solar system, the nuclei of comets and some planetary rings are all known to be…
To better assess the role that electrons play in exosphere production on icy-rich bodies, we measured the total and O$_2$ sputtering yields from H$_2$O-ice for electrons with energies between 0.75 and 10 keV and temperatures between 15 and…
An experimental study on the interaction of heavy, highly charged, and energetic ions (52 MeV Ni^13+) with pure H2O, pure CO2 and mixed H2O:CO2 astrophysical ice analogs is presented. This analysis aims to simulate the chemical and the…
We present a dedicated experimental study of microscopic mechanisms controlling radiolysis and sputtering of astrophysical ices due to their bombardment by cosmic ray ions. Such ions are slowed down due to inelastic collisions with bound…
Electron cooling, in which free electrons lose energy to vibrational excitation of gases, has been identified as a significant process in the atmospheres of Mars and Venus for electron impact on CO2. This process does not appear to have…
Jupiter's moon Europa has a subsurface ocean, the chemistry of which is largely unknown. Carbon dioxide (CO$_2$) has previously been detected on the surface of Europa, but it was not possible to determine whether it originated from…
Ocean planets are volatile rich planets, not present in our Solar System, which are thought to be dominated by deep, global oceans. This results in the formation of high-pressure water ice, separating the planetary crust from the liquid…
Formic acid (HCOOH) and carbon dioxide (CO2) are simple species that have been detected in the interstellar medium. The solid-state formation pathways of these species under experimental conditions relevant to prestellar cores are primarily…
The gas present in planet-forming disks typically exhibits strong emission features of abundant carbon and oxygen molecular carriers. In some instances, protoplanetary disks show an elevated C/O ratio above interstellar values, which leads…
[Abridged] The infrared ro-vibrational emission lines from organic molecules in the inner regions of protoplanetary disks are unique probes of the physical and chemical structure of planet forming regions and the processes that shape them.…