Interstellar Astrochemistry

埃里克·赫布斯特博士（俄亥俄州州立大学）将继续他在天体化学方面的研究。 为了充分理解分子揭示了它们所处的物体的什么，有必要理解分子是如何形成和破坏的。 为此，Herbst博士创建了大型化学反应网络，包括气相和颗粒表面过程。再加上来源的物理模型，无论是同质或异质的，这些化学网络允许建模者计算分子丰度，无论是在气体和尘埃颗粒的表面上。成功地与观测数据进行比较，然后提供有关物理条件和源寿命的信息。这项研究建立在该实验室早期工作的基础上，主要关注星星的形成过程，该过程通过各种不同的表现和阶段进行。通过对分子光谱的研究，并通过化学计算的棱镜进行分析，人们可以开始瞥见恒星形成时气体和尘埃发生了什么。天体化学在分子作为探测银河系和其他星际介质的探针的迅速发展中起了重要作用。关于弥漫和密集的星际云，特别是星星和行星形成的知识，现在大多来自于对这些区域中的分子告诉我们什么的理解。分子天文学领域已经成为一个全球性的奋进，其中观测天文学家，理论化学家，实验科学家和建模者合作解决共同感兴趣的问题。 除了在他的研究中与学生和博士后同事合作外，赫布斯特博士还试图通过在天文学系外进行大量的演讲，发表评论文章，接受杂志和报纸的采访，并前往当地的小学，初中和高中讨论分子宇宙，从而使其他领域的科学家和普通公众了解该领域。 此外，赫布斯特博士现在每年六月都会举办一个关于天体化学的小型会议，作为在哥伦布举行的大型国际光谱学研讨会的一部分。

Dr. Eric Herbst (Ohio State University) will continue his research in astrochemistry. In order to understand fully what molecules reveal about the objects in which they reside, it is necessary to comprehend how the molecules are formed and destroyed. To this end Dr. Herbst has created large networks of chemical reactions, including both gas-phase and grain-surface processes. Coupled with physical models of sources, either homogeneous or heterogeneous, these chemical networks allow the modeler to calculate molecular abundances, both in the gas and on the surfaces of dust grains. Successful comparison with observational data then gives information on physical conditions and lifetimes of sources. The research builds on earlier work from this laboratory, and is mainly concerned with the process of star formation, which proceeds through a variety of different manifestations and stages. Through the study of molecular spectra, as analyzed through the prism of chemical calculations, one can begin to glimpse what is happening to gas and dust as stars form.Astrochemistry has been instrumental in the burgeoning use of molecules as probes of the interstellar medium in our galaxy and others. Much of the knowledge of diffuse and dense interstellar clouds, and especially star and planetary formation, now comes from an understanding of what molecules in these regions are telling us. The field of molecular astronomy has become a worldwide endeavor in which observational astronomers, theoretical chemists, experimental scientists, and modelers collaborate on problems of mutual interest. In addition to working with both students and postdoctoral associates in his research, Dr. Herbst has tried to make the field known both to scientists in other fields and to the lay public by giving large numbers of talks outside of astronomy departments, publishing review articles, giving interviews for magazines and newspapers, and by going to local elementary, middle, and high schools to discuss the molecular universe. In addition, Dr. Herbst now runs a mini-conference on astrochemistry each June as part of the larger international spectroscopy symposium held in Columbus.