Date: Thursday 7th December 2023
Time: 17:30-18:30 GMT
Location: Imperial College London
About the Lecture
Professor Ewine F. van Dishoek, from Leiden University will be presenting the 2023 Sir Geoffrey Wilkinson Lecture on Molecules between the stars: from clouds to planets. Please see below from a blurb of the talk.
The space between the stars is not empty but filled with a very dilute gas. In spite of the extremely low temperatures and densities, these clouds contain a surprisingly rich chemistry, as evidenced by the detection of more than 300 different molecules, from simple to complex and from gas to solid-state ices. These clouds are also the birthplaces of stars and planets. New powerful facilities such as the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) and the James Webb Space Telescope (Webb) have found water and a surprisingly rich variety of organic materials near forming stars, including simple sugars, ethers and alcohols. How are these molecules formed in space? Which molecular processes play a role? How common are they and can they be delivered to new planets?
Please do not register to attend if you have any lessons or other pre-planned activities which may overlap with this lecture unless you have received authorised permission to do so.