Category: Astrochemistry

NANOCOSMOS workshops/meetings

2017

NANOCOSMOS Interstellar Dust Meeting

Date: 12 – 13 June 2017

Place: Université Paul Sabatier (Toulouse, France)

Key dates: 

Abstract submission deadline: April 30th, 2017

Registration deadline: May 14th, 2017

Webpage: https://epolm3-nanocosm.sciencesconf.org/

2016

European Conference on Laboratory Astrophysics – Gas on the Rocks (ECLA2016)

Outcome of the conference: See “A summary of the ECLA2016” link

November 21 – 25, 2016 (CSIC Headquarters, Madrid, Spain)

Webpage: ECLA2016

FIRST ANNOUNCEMENT

Key dates:
Second announcement:  February 1st, 2016 (opening of the conference web page).
Deadline for abstract submission: June 15, 2016
Deadline for early registration: July 15, 2016
Deadline for information participants about selected contributing talks: June 30, 2016
Final program: July 15, 2016
Last announcement with final details: November 1st, 2016

Motivation:

Over the last decade, European research activities in the field of laboratory astrophysics have experienced an impressive increase in their potential to address astrophysical problems, in particular by providing essential information on the physical and chemical processes leading to chemical complexity in space resulting in star and planet formation. These activities have been motivated by the interpretation of astronomical observations obtained with single dish telescopes and short baseline interferometers. The wealth of data obtained with ALMA, space facilities (Herschel, Spitzer, Rosetta, the coming JWST, E-ELT), and other ground based observatories (VLTI, NOEMA, …), require new methodologies for the astrophysical modeling that will lead to new challenges for laboratory astrophysics.

This conference aims to address the state of the art in laboratory astrophysics within the context of these new astrophysical data and to improve communication and collaboration between astrophysicists, physicists and (geo) chemists. Hence, the conference structure will consist of invited talks presenting topics in astrophysics and planetary science and related laboratory astrophysics activities. Contributing talks will be selected to complement the topics from the astrophysical, laboratory, and theoretical/modeling points of view.

The astrophysical areas that will be addressed are:

Comets, asteroids, meteorites and the primitive Solar System nebula: formation and evolution
Protoplanetary disks and planet formation
Planet, Moon, and exoplanet surfaces and atmospheres
The signatures of the evolving interstellar medium
Dense Clouds: the gas-ice interface
Chemical fingerprints of star formation
The late stages of star evolution: dust formation
Supernovae and shocks: high-energy processing of matter

The conference will cover studies in many fields such as spectroscopy, analytical (geo) chemistry, reactivity, nanoscience, and quantum chemistry, pertaining to different matter components (gas, plasma, PAHs, ices, dust, solid surfaces, …).

SOC composition
Jose Cernicharo (chair). ICMM-CSIC, Madrid, Spain
Christine Joblin (co-chair). IRAP, Univ. Paul Sabatier/CNRS, Toulouse, France
Isabel Tanarro. IEM-CSIC, Madrid, Spain
Jose Angel Martín Gago. ICMM-CSIC, Madrid, Spain
Karine Demyk. IRAP, Univ. Paul Sabatier/CNRS, Toulouse, France
Jean-Hugues Fillion. LERMA, UPCM Univ.  Paris 06, & Obs. Paris, France
Maria Elisabetta Palumbo. INAF-Catania Astrophysical Obs., Italy
André Canosa. IPR, Univ. Rennes 1/CNRS, France
Harold Linnartz. Leiden Obs., Univ. of Leiden, The Netherlands
Liv Hornekaer. iNANO, Aarhus Univ., Danemark
Peter Sarre. School of Chemistry, Nottingham Univ., UK
Stephan Schlemmer. Phys. Inst., Univ. Koln, Germany
Jonathan Tennyson. Univ. College London, UK
Yves Marrochi. CRPG-CNRS, Nancy, France
Guillermo Muñoz Caro. CAB, INTA-CSIC, Madrid, Spain

LOC composition
Isabel Tanarro (Chair). IEM-CSIC, Madrid, Spain
Belén Maté. IEM-CSIC, Madrid, Spain
Víctor J. Herrero. IEM-CSIC, Madrid, Spain
José Luis Doménech. IEM-CSIC, Madrid, Spain
Ángel González-Valdenebro. IEM-CSIC, Madrid, Spain
Marcelo Castellanos (co-chair). ICMM-CSIC, Madrid, Spain
Belén Tercero.  ICMM-CSIC, Madrid, Spain
Juan Ramón Pardo. ICMM-CSIC, Madrid, Spain
Juan Antonio Corbalán. ICMM-CSIC, Madrid, Spain
Natalia Ruiz-Zelmanovich. ICMM-CSIC, Madrid, Spain

Gas cell for Laboratory Astrophysics (GACELA)

The Gas Cell for Laboratory Astrophysics (GACELA) consists of a stainless-steel chamber 1 meter long and a diameter of 60 cm. It is equipped with two teflon windows that allows the study of gases through rotational spectroscopy inside the chamber.

Hence, the team coupled the new NANOCOSMOS millimeter broad band receivers into the setup. These receivers are twins of those built for the Yebes 40 meter radio telescope. A series of vacuum chamber ports allow the injection of gas and liquids to perform plasma generation, ultraviolet photochemistry and optical spectroscopy. GACELA was built at the Segainvex Laboratories located at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid.

Outstanding publications on our experimetal setup:

1) Broad-band high-resolution rotational spectroscopy for laboratory astrophysics  (J. Cernicharo, J. D. Gallego, J. A. López-Pérez, and 32 co-authors). Astronomy & Astrophysics, 2019 June; 626, A34. Published online 2019, June 7.

2) Using radio astronomical receivers for molecular spectroscopic characterization in astrochemical laboratory simulations: A proof of concept (I. Tanarro, B. Alemán, P. de Vicente, and 26 co-authors). Astronomy & Astrophysics, 2018 Jan; 609: A15. Published online 2017 Dec 22.

GACELA addresses an innovative potential to perform novel experiments on plasma physics, photochemistry and ices. We also address the spectroscopical characterization of a gas injected in the cell. Thus, we performed a first set of experiments in February 2018 with the detection of CH3CN in a few seconds with a very high signal-to-noise ratio (S/N). The whole system was further improved and we have made multiple runs in the full-experimental phase from May 2018.

Check our posts on the GACELA setup

Elegant and fast: the GACELA is running

HEMT receivers

The 40m radio telescope at the Yebes Observatory

Outstanding publications on our innovative development

Yebes 40 m radio telescope and the broad band NANOCOSMOS receivers at 7 mm and 3 mm for line surveys (F. Tercero, J. A. López-Pérez, J. D. Gallego and 23 co-authors, A&A, 01/2021)

Breakthroughs

  • Two new cryogenic receivers for the 31.5 − 50 GHz (Q frequency band) and the 72 − 90.5 GHz (W band).
  • A new optical circuit for the W band receiver with its mirrors, new mirrors for the Q band receiver, and a new hot-cold load calibration system.
  • Instantaneous frequency coverage to observe many molecular transitions with single tunings in single dish mode: 1) Optimization of the observing time; 2) Increase in the radio telescope output efficiency; 3) Boost in data sensitivity in comparison with previous Nobeyama (Japan) 45 m telescope surveys (less than 1 mK versus 5 mK in the Nobeyama data).

Nanocosmos has developed an experimental set-up, the Gas Cell for Laboratory Astrophysics –GACELA– that operates under vacuum conditions, in order to mimick the molecular processes underlying chemical reactions of astrophysical interest. We are in particular interested in those processes occurring at the dust formation zone of AGB stars. 

We observe molecular processes in-situ by using the new NANOCOSMOS mm broad band radio astronomical receivers, which results advantageous in terms of spectral resolution and sensitivity. We have successfully applied this innovation at the 40 m radio telescope at the Yebes Observatory. Therefore, we have designed, constructed and commissioned new Q and W band receivers to foster the radio telescope capabilities and to provide wider bandwidth and better spectral resolution. The development of this instrumentation is a key aspect of the Nanocosmos project and is already providing outstanding results with the discovery of multiple molecular species.

Key Yebes internal reports to show the developments and upgrades of this instrumentation.

AROMA set-up

AROMA (Astrochemistry Research of Organics with Molecular Analyzer) is a new analytical experimental set-up developed at IRAP/LCAR (Toulouse, France). The main purpose of AROMA is the study and identification, with micro-scale resolution, of the molecular content of cosmic dust analogues, including stardust analogues produced in the Stardust machine and meteoritic samples. AROMA combines laser desorption/ionization (LDI) techniques with a linear ion trap coupled to an orthogonal time of flight mass spectrometer (LQIT-oTOF).

Outstanding publications on our innovative setup

Molecular content of nascent soot: Family characterization using two-step laser desorption laser ionization mass spectrometry (H. Sabbah, M. Commodo, F. Picca, G. de Falco, P. Minutolo, A. D´Anna and C. Joblin). Proceedings of the Combustion Institute, Volume 38, Issue 1, 2021, Pages 1241-1248.

Impact of Metals on (Star)Dust Chemistry: A Laboratory Astrophysics Approach (R. Bérard, K. Makasheva, K. Demyk, A. Simon, D. Nuñez-Reyes, F. Mastrorocco, H. Sabbah and C. Joblin). Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences, 2021 March 21. IRAP Press Release: Role des metaux dans la chimie des poussieres detoiles

Characterization of large carbonaceous molecules in cosmic dust analogues and meteorites (H. Sabbah, M. Carlos and C. Joblin). Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union, 2019 Apr; 15(Suppl 350): 103–106.

Identification of PAH Isomeric Structure in Cosmic Dust Analogues: the AROMA setup (H. Sabbah, A. Bonnamy, D. Papanastasiou, J. Cernicharo, J.-A. Martín-Gago, and C. Joblin). Astrophysical Journal, 2017 Jul 1; 843(1): 34.

Check our posts on the AROMA set-up

AROMA Setup First Results
First light of the AROMA experimental set-up in Toulouse

Stardust machine

The Stardust machine is a beyond the state-of-the-art equipment that combines various techniques to achieve original studies on individual nanoparticles. These studies include their processing to produce complex molecules, the chemical evolution of their precursors and their reactivity with abundant molecules of astrophysical interest. The simulation chambers are equipped with state-of-the-art in situ and ex situ diagnostics.

Outstanding publications on our innovative development

INFRA-ICE: An ultra-high vacuum experimental station for laboratory astrochemistry (G. Santoro, J. M. Sobrado, G. Tajuelo-Castilla, M. Accolla, L. Martinez, J. Azpeitia, K. Lauwaet, J. Cernicharo, G. J. Ellis, J. A. Martín-Gago). Review of Scientific Instruments, 2020 December 1.

Prevalence of non-aromatic carbonaceous molecules in the inner regions of circumstellar envelopes (L. Martínez, G. Santoro, P. Merino, M. Accolla, K. Lauwaet, J. Sobrado, H. Sabbah, R. J. Peláez, V. J. Herrero, I. Tanarro, M. Agúndez, A. Martín-Jimenez, R. Otero, G. J. Ellis, C. Joblin, J. Cernicharo & J. A. Martín-Gago). Nature Astronomy, 2019 October 21.

Precisely controlled fabrication, manipulation and in-situ analysis of Cu based nanoparticles (L. Martínez, K. Lauwaet, G. Santoro, J. M. Sobrado, R. J. Peláez, V. J. Herrero, I. Tanarro, G. J. Ellis, J. Cernicharo, C. Joblin, Y. Huttel, and J. A. Martín-Gago). Scientific Reports 8, 7250 (13pp), 2018 May 8.

The Stardust machine
 The Stardust machine
A detailed full poster on the Stardust Machine

More relevant information on our innovative set-up

Main features of the Stardust machine

The Stardust machine has been designed and assembled at the Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales de Madrid (ICMM-CSIC). The elapsed time has been from October 2014 to the end of 2015. Throughout 2016, we entered into the commissioning phase with several ongoing verification experiments and processes. From mid-2017, we are dealing with the first astrophysical experiments, the so-called exploitation phase.

Stardust is basically a forefront facility to produce and analyze in-situ highly-controlled analogs of the dust grains in a versatile ultra-high-vacuum (UHV) experiment, up to pressures of 10-11 mbar. The ultimate goal is to reproduce the physical conditions that prevail in the photospheres of AGB stars. In this environment, we mimick the nucleation of the aggregates and their possible interaction with the circumstellar gases. Stardust characterizes microscopic processes (interaction with photons and gas) through surface science techniques. It encompasses 5 independent vacuum chambers, with their own instrumentation, pumping systems, gas-dosed systems in a highly-controlled UHV environment:

  • MICS (Multiple Ion Cluster Source) chamber. The MICS is a new optimized route for cluster growth of a standard technique based on a sputtering gas. It allows the formation of nanoparticles of controlled elemental composition by atomic aggregation. A special port has been adapted to perform optical spectroscopy.
  • NEON (NEutral to iON) chamber that separates neutral from ionized nanoparticles as well as a mass selection. It also accelerates, simulating the radiation pressure, and anneals the formed clusters.
  • INTERACTION chamber. Interaction and chemical reactions are induced between the generated nanoparticles and molecules in the gas phase (H2, CH4, C2H2, etc).
  • INFRA-ICE chamber. In-flight analysis is performed through UV, visible, near-mid and far-infrared spectroscopy. We have successfully integrated a cryostat and a sample manipulator to study ice interstellar analogs. Microwave spectroscopy will be performed with the new NANOCOSMOS mm broad band receivers to study second/minute time-dependent changes in the gas composition.
  • ANA chamber, the analysis chamber. This allows us to collect the nanoparticles and perform X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), thermal desorption spectroscopy (TDS), Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) and Ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS) in-situ. Also some in-situ processing can be performed here. The collected samples are duly transported and delivered to the AROMA setup for ulterior analysis.

Check our posts on the Stardust machine:

Carbon grains around evolved stars
The Stardust Machine at “El Mundo” Spanish Newspaper