Wednesday Colloquia
Astrochemistry: Results from Herschel Space Observatory
by Dr. Bhaswati Mookerjea (DAA, TIFR, Mumbai)
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
from
to
(Asia/Kolkata)
at Colaba Campus ( AG-66 )
at Colaba Campus ( AG-66 )
Description |
The interstellar medium consisting of a plethora of molecules provides a natural chemical laboratory in which reaction networks so far unexplored in terrestrial laboratories can be observed. Astrochemistry is an emerging field of study in which spectroscopic studies of the molecules in the interstellar medium are performed with essentially two goals. The first aim is to detect new molecules and their transitions, and to study the structure and chemistry of these molecules. The second is to estimate the role of these molecules in the cooling of the interstellar medium which is an essential condition for the formation of the stars or any structure for that matter. Energy considerations show that for most molecules the brightest transitions occur in the far-infrared wavelength regime. The Herschel Space Observatory, launched in May 2009, has provided a unique observing platform for spectroscopic observations in far-infrared wavelengths at reasonably high angular resolutions. In this talk I will present some of the most recent results on both emission and absorption spectroscopy of the interstellar medium and the star forming molecular clouds as obtained by Herschel. |
Organised by | Nitin Chaudhari |