Surface Properties of Icy Satellites

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AST 0098144BaragiolaDr. Raul Baragiola, at the University of Virginia, will carry out laboratory research to address key questions about the surfaces of icy satellites in the outer solar system and their interaction with energetic radiation and atmospheric species. Dr. Baragiola plans to measure the interaction of atomic oxygen with water and carbonaceous minerals. Experiments will be set up to learn how the results for protons scale for highly ionizing, heavier ions, which constitute the predominant source of magnetospheric sputtering in the outer solar system. The ability to control the morphology of amorphous ice will be followed by the study of how microstructure affects the adsorption/absorption of atmospheric gases and optical reflectance. The research has direct implications for comets, ring particles, and interstellar grains. The results also have applications to remote sensing of ices on Earth, the physics and chemistry of mesospheric ice in the Earth's upper atmosphere, processing of materials by ion and photons, materials science of amorphous materials, radiation effects in biological tissue and exobiology. ***