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A mini-symposium on "Interstellar Molecules" will be held at the
Enrico Fermi Institute at the University of Chicago. This event is
co-sponsored by the Midwest Astrochemistry Consortium.
Date: Friday, April 20, 2007
Time: 10:00am - 5:30pm
Location: Research Institute Building, 5640 S. Ellis Ave., Room 480
Announcement of EFI Mini-Symposium (PDF)
Abstracts for EFI Mini-Symposium (PDF)
Campus map showing Research Institutes
Astronomy is the almighty science.
"It got physics started by showing the beautiful simplicity of the motion
of stars and planets" (Feynman Lecture I. 3-6). Now it is beginning to
engulf chemistry by showing exquisite spectra! It has been observationally
established that hydrogen in the Universe is more molecular than atomic,
over 100 molecules exist abundantly in interstellar space, and molecules
are essential for star formation. We here discuss some recent developments
starting from the most fundamental H3+, which
plays the pivotal role in interstellar chemistry, to the diffuse
interstellar bands, an enigma for astronomers for nearly 100 years,
whose carriers are yet to be identified but are surely complex organic
molecules.
AGENDA
| 10:00 am |
Opening Remarks
Jim Pilcher (UofC) |
10:05 am |
"H3+: A Tracer of the Cosmic Ray Ionization
Rate in Diffuse Clouds"
Benjamin J. McCall (Univ. of IL, Urbana-Champaign)
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10:40 am |
"Central Molecular Zone: the Treasure House of H3+"
Takeshi Oka (UofC)
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11:15 am |
"Masers as Probes of Interacting Supernova Remnants and Massive
Star Formation in the Nuclear Disk of the Galaxy"
Farhad Yusef-Zadeh (Northwestern University)
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12:00 pm |
Lunch Talk: "Mega-masers, Hubble Constant, and Dark Energy"
Fred K. Y. Lo (National Radio Astronomy Observatory)
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1:05 pm |
"UV/Optical Observations of Diatomic Molecules in Diffuse and
Translucent Clouds"
Daniel E. Welty (UofC)
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1:40 pm |
"Molecular Anions in the Laboratory and in Space"
Michael C. McCarthy (Harvard Univ.)
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2:15 pm |
Break |
2:35 pm |
"A Quest to Reveal the Signatures of Aromatic Compounds in Space"
Robert J. McMahon (Univ. of Wisconsin)
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3:10 pm |
"Diffuse Interstellar Bands: Ubiquitous Large Molecules in Diffuse
and Translucent Clouds"
Donald G. York (UofC)
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3:45 pm |
Break |
4:00 pm |
"Midwest Astrochemistry Consortium"
Eric Herbst (Ohio State University)
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4:10 pm |
"A New Model for Complex Chemistry in Hot Cores"
Susanna L. Widicus Weaver (Univ. of IL, Urbana-Champaign)
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4:30 pm |
"Chemistry as a Tool to Understand the Kinematics of Prestellar Cores"
Sebastien Maret (Univ. of Michigan)
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4:50 pm |
"An Experimental Approach to the Prediction of Complete Millimeter
and Submillimeter Spectra at Astrophysical Temperatures"
Ivan Medvedev (Ohio State University)
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5:10 pm |
"Searching for Organic Molecules in Protoplanetary Disks"
Erika Gibb (University of Missouri at St. Louis)
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5:30 pm |
Adjournment
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