Date: Wednesday 26-Jan-2022
Time: 12:00-1:00 pm
Location: PSC 1136
Speaker: Arshia Jacob (JHU)
Title: "Investigating the interstellar medium using hydrides - A tale of hydrides past, present and future"
One of the fundamental questions in modern astronomy concerns the life cycle of molecular material in the universe and addressing how molecular clouds are formed. Given, that atomic and molecular hydrogen gases form the major components of the neutral interstellar medium (ISM), cloud formation must involve the transition from regions dominated by HI gas to those dominated by H2 gas. Therefore, understanding the processes responsible for this phase transition are crucial. While this topic is highly complex, absorption spectroscopy of hydrides (molecules or molecular ions with a heavy atom covalently bonded to one or more hydrogen atoms) performed over the past decade have provided a wealth of new information about their use as sensitive tracers of the different phases of the ISM. Here, I’ll present a journey, starting from the earliest detections of hydrides in the ISM to their most recent observations carried out as a part of an ongoing SOFIA legacy program, HyGAL. I will highlight along the way the use of hydrides as powerful diagnostic tools for the different phases of ISM with particular emphasis on the methylidyne radical, CH.
Guidelines and format for the CTC Lunch seminars.
Past CTC Lunch seminars.
For other questions, contact the CTC Lunch host: Shmuel Bialy
SPECIAL ACCOMMODATIONS:
Special accommodations for individuals with disabilities can be made by calling (301) 405-3001. It would be appreciated if we are notified at least one week in advance.
