April 30, 2010

PAHs and the Diffuse Interstellar Bands: From the Laboratory to Space

The diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs) are absorption features that are seen toward reddened stars. They are caused by the absorption of light by the interstellar medium. Numbering hundreds of bands, the DIBs vary in strengths and in profiles and are detected in the near ultraviolet to the near infrared range. The bands are the signature of carriers that are ubiquitous in the interstellar medium making their identification an essential element for a correct understanding of the nature and the evolution of the interstellar medium. The diffuse bands have represented a long standing, fascinating challenge for astrophysics since they were first discovered more than a century ago. The search for the carriers of the DIB has motivated efforts at the frontiers of science, leading, among other things, to advances in spectroscopy and to the discovery of the fullerene molecules. Recent findings have shed light on the nature of the carriers of the DIBs and the role played by complex organic molecules in space. Recent progress in astronomical observations and in laboratory studies will be presented together with a discussion of the current consensus regarding this important issue.

1. Dale Cruikshank: Outer Solar System Ices
2. Adrian Brown: Poles of Mars
3. Bruce Damer: Simulating Life's Origin
4. Laurance Doyle: Mongolian and other Historic Solar Eclipses
5. Daniel Rasky: Augustine Commission - The Way Forward on US Manned Spaceflight
6. Sergei Dubovsky: Observing String Multiverse with Astrophysical Black Holes
7. Conny Aerts - Asteroseismology
8. Carol Stoker - Phoenix Mission and Habitability
9. ames Benford - Interstellar Beacons
10. Brad Bailey - Life in Basaltic Glass in the oceanic basins
11. Nancy McKeown: Mawrth Vallis, Mars
12. Bob Pappalardo: Europa Jupiter Orbiter
13. David Jewitt:- Solar System Primordial Ice Reservoirs
14. Harry Jones: Starship Life Support
15. Jeff Moore: Mysteries on Titan
16. Farid Salama: Interstellar Clouds
17. Mark Showalter: Marine Biodiversity
18. Jen Blank: ChemCam on Mars Science Lab Rover
19. Pete Worden, Pavel Podvig, Will Marshall: Nuclear Weapons and Space Weapons
20. Samantha Blair: Interstellar Medium Interference
21. Jon Jenkins: Kepler Worlds
22. Dan Lubin: Maunder Minimum
23. Monika Kress: Habitable Planets
24. Intersection of Physics and Biology - Jan Liphardt
25. Mark Marley: Atmospheres of Brown Dwarfs and Exoplanets
26. Sarah Church: Polarized Cosmic Microwave Background
27. Peter Jenniskens: Hayabusa Reentry
28. Don Lowe: Late Heavy Bombardment
29. Mark Krumholz: Star Formation Rate
30. Heather Knutson: Exoplanet Atmospheres
31. David Des Marais: Exploring Mars for Habitable Environments
32. Ralph Lorenz: Titan Unveiled
33. REU Students Review 2010
34. Nick Kanas: Psychology of Spaceflight
35. Rus Belikov: Beyond Kepler - Imaging Exo-Earths
36. Bill Colson: Free Electron Laser Communications
37. David Korsmeyer: NASA Future Human Missions
38. Pascal Lee: Haughton-Mars Project
39. Chris McKay: Titan - Past, Present, Future
40. Nathalie Cabrol: Lakes on Mars
41. Margarita Marinova: Martian Dichotomy
42. Ellen Howell: Radar videos of asteroids

Carl Sagan Center/SETI Institute Colloquium Series

Attend a colloquium! They are FREE, open to the public and held from noon to 1pm, every Wednesday at the SETI Institute, 515 N. Whisman Road, Mountain View, California.