Catalyzing New International Collaboration: Astronomical Observations and Laboratory Studies Relevant to Comets

这个奖项的主要目的是为美国和日本在行星科学领域的新的国际合作提供催化剂。SRI国际的Konstantinos Kalogerakis博士将访问京都工业大学的川田英代教授小组。这项合作将汇集他们各自在行星科学（Kalogerakis）和彗星天文观测（Kawakita）相关的实验室实验方面的背景。合作的目标是规划研究工作，以解决对彗星认识的重大差距。这一合作的协同方面来自于一位广泛参与彗星地面和太空观测的天文学家与一位沉浸在相关实验室研究并精通光谱学和气相反应动力学的实验员的相互作用。计划中的相互作用将主要集中在与彗星相关的两个主题上：1)彗星红色和绿色原子氧线发射的变化多普勒宽度的解释，以及2)在极紫外线下CO2光解作用后激发三重态CO的发射假设可以作为彗星中CO2存在的标志。拟议计划访问的一个重要方面是确定一个或多个针对上述主题的新提案，并提交给美国国家科学基金会。美国的行星天文学计划，也可能是美国宇航局。拟议合作的结果及其未来的研究成果将有利于行星大气建模者、理论家和光学天文学家，并将提高过去和未来空间任务的科学回报，以及对彗星的地面或天基观测。光化学过程的研究在基础层面上也很重要，因为它允许测试相关模型和理论计算，并将最终完善对原子和分子水平上化学转化的力的理解。同样重要的是，拟议中的新合作将导致有利于教育目的的研究。最后，由于其本身的性质，拟议的计划访问和随后的互动将促进美国和日本之间的国际合作和文化交流，并提高美国研究企业的国际知名度。

The primary objective of this award is to provide the catalyst for a new international collaboration between the U.S. and Japan in the field of planetary science. Dr. Konstantinos Kalogerakis of SRI International will visit the group of Professor Hideyo Kawakita at Kyoto Sangyo University. This collaboration will bring together their respective backgrounds in laboratory experiments relevant to planetary science (Kalogerakis) and astronomical observations of comets (Kawakita). The goal of the collaboration is to plan research efforts to address significant gaps in the understanding of comets. The synergistic aspect of this collaboration arises from the interaction of an astronomer extensively involved in ground- and space-based observations of comets, with an experimentalist immersed in relevant laboratory studies and well versed in spectroscopy and gas-phase reaction dynamics. The planned interactions will primarily focus on two topics relevant to comets: 1) The interpretation of the varying Doppler widths of the cometary red and green atomic oxygen line emissions, and 2) The hypothesis that prompt emission by excited triplet CO states following photodissociation of CO2 in the extreme ultraviolet could serve as a marker of CO2 presence in comets. An important aspect of the proposed planning visit is to define one or more new proposals addressing the aforementioned topics to be submitted to the U.S. National Science Foundation?s Planetary Astronomy Program and possibly to NASA as well. The results of the proposed collaboration as well as its future research outcomes will benefit modelers of planetary atmospheres, theoreticians, and optical aeronomers, and will enhance the scientific returns of past and future space missions, as well as ground- or space-based observations of comets. The study of photochemical processes is also important on a fundamental level because it allows testing of relevant models and theoretical calculations and will ultimately refine understanding of the forces responsible for chemical transformations at the level of atoms and molecules. Just as importantly, the proposed new collaboration will lead to research that lends itself favorably to educational purposes. Finally, because of its very nature, the proposed planning visit and ensuing interactions will foster international cooperation and cultural exchanges between the U.S. and Japan and increase the international visibility of the U.S. research enterprise.