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

该奖项的主要目标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博士将访问京都相约大学的川下秀代教授小组。这项合作将在与行星科学(Kalogerakis)和彗星天文观测(Kawakita)相关的实验室实验中汇聚各自的背景。合作的目标是计划研究工作，以解决对彗星理解方面的重大差距。这一合作的协同方面源于一名广泛参与地面和空间彗星观测的天文学家与一名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者之间的互动。计划中的相互作用将主要集中在与彗星有关的两个主题上：1)解释彗星红色和绿色原子氧线发射的不同多普勒宽度；2)假设在极端紫外线中二氧化碳光解后激发的三重态CO的快速发射可以作为彗星中存在二氧化碳的标志。这次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，这些提案将提交给美国国家科学基金会？S行星天文学计划，也可能提交给美国国家航空航天局。拟议合作的结果及其未来的研究成果将使行星大气层的模型师、理论家和光学大气学家受益，并将提高过去和未来空间飞行任务以及对彗星的地面或空间观测的科学回报。对光化学过程的研究在根本上也很重要，因为它允许测试相关模型和理论计算，并最终将完善对原子和分子水平上化学转化的作用力的理解。同样重要的是，拟议中的新合作将带来有利于教育目的的研究。最后，由于其性质，拟议中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.