6 papers
CO and N2 Produced from H2O, CO2, and NH3 Cometary Ice Analogs
Alexandra McKinnon, Alexia Simon, Michelle R. Brann +3
Hypervolatile species such as carbon monoxide (CO) and molecular nitrogen (N2) have been detected in comets, and could be used to constrain comet formation temperature conditions i…
Functionalization of Benzene Ices by Atomic Oxygen
Elettra L. Piacentino, Alexandra McKinnon, Nora Hänni +6
Small aromatic molecules, including functionalized derivatives of benzene, are known to be present throughout the different stages of star and planet formation. In particular, oxyg…
The survival of aromatic molecules in protoplanetary disks
Elettra L. Piacentino, Aurelia Balkanski, Jenny Calahan +3
Aromaticity is a common chemical functionalities in bioactive molecules. In interstellar and circumstellar environments benzene and other small aromatics are considered the precurs…
H2S ice sublimation dynamics: experimentally constrained binding energies, entrapment efficiencies, and snowlines
Julia C. Santos, Elettra L. Piacentino, Jennifer B. Bergner +2
Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is thought to be an important sulfur reservoir in interstellar ices. It serves as a key precursor to complex sulfur-bearing organics, and has been proposed t…
Thermal Desorption Kinetics, Binding Energies, and Entrapment of Methyl Mercaptan Ices
Suchitra Narayanan, Elettra L. Piacentino, Karin I. Ãberg +1
Organosulfur species are potential major carriers of sulfur in the interstellar medium, as well as interesting ingredients in prebiotic chemistry. The most fundamental question reg…
Characterization of monosubstituted benzene ices
Elettra L. Piacentino, Aurelia Balkanski, Mahesh Rajappan +1
Aromatic structures are fundamental for key biological molecules such as RNA and metabolites and the abundances of aromatic molecules on young planets are therefore of high interes…