Analysis of Near-Infrared ILS Spectroscopy for Planetological Application

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AST 9618704 Analysis of Near-Infrared ILS Spectroscopy for Planetological Application. Drs. George Atkinson and Jonathan Lunine will use intracavity laser spectroscopy (ILS) in the laboratory to detect and characterize weak absorption features in the 1-3 micron wavelength range from molecules associated with planetary atmospheres, such as carbon monoxide, nitrogen, and methane. The ILS technique presents a great advantage over other methods of characterizing molecular line parameters: 1) it achieves very large effective pathlengths without large physical pathlengths and/or volumes of gases; and 2) weak features that are inaccessible to other techniques can now be studied. The experimental conditions to be examined reproduce those under which astronomical observational data were recorded. The opportunity to quantitatively mimic astronomical observational data is derived from the extremely high detection sensitivity and versatility with which ILS techniques can be used. =========================