Molecules as probes of the interstellar medium

在自然界中，最大的挑战之一是远程识别太空中的东西。星际分子是通过它们的光谱来识别的，但这些光谱中的许多特征是未知的，这意味着太空中有比我们所知的更多的分子。随着对空间化学有了更深入的了解，我们可以预测那里应该有什么，并在实验室中进行验证。相反，对这些特征的识别将为理解星际化学提供工具。在这个项目中，我们结合了光谱学和天文学的技术，在实验室中制造这些分子，测量它们的光谱，从而识别太空中的未知分子。

It is one of the greatest challenges in Nature is to remotely identify what is in space. Interstellar molecules are identified by their spectra, but many features in these spectra are unknown, implying that there are many more molecules in space than we know about. With a stronger understanding of space chemistry, we could predict what should be there and verify it in the lab. Conversely, identification of these features will provide the tools to understand interstellar chemistry. In this project we combine skills in spectroscopy and astronomy to make these molecules in the laboratory, measure their spectra and thereby identify unknown molecules in space.