Karin Oberg
Harvard University, MA·Astronomy & Astrophysics
Planets form in disks of gas and dust around young stars. The chemistry of these disks helps decide what planets are made of, including whether they receive water and organic molecules of interest for the origins of life.
- Fields
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Chemistry
- Topics
protoplanetary disks
planet formation
astrochemistry
- Grants
- 2 known grants, through Nov 2028
What they work on
- Measure UV- and electron-induced photodissociation cross sections and breakdown products for 15 organic molecules embedded in interstellar ice analogs, using ultra-high vacuum experiments monitored by FTIR spectroscopy.
- Determine how molecular size and functional groups affect whether organics are destroyed or keep their chemical functionality, to predict the survival of interstellar organics until they join icy planetesimals.
- Survey 40 protoplanetary disks with the Submillimeter Array across 210–370 GHz to inventory organic molecules and measure C/O and D/H ratios in comet-forming disk regions.
- Run a grid of DALI astrochemical models to convert predicted molecular abundances into column densities and column density ratios for direct comparison with the disk survey observations.
More about the research
The clouds that collapse to form stars contain icy dust grains rich in organic molecules. It is unclear whether those molecules survive the journey into planet-forming disks. The lab's two projects approach this question from two sides. One uses laboratory experiments on how organic ices break down. The other uses telescope surveys of the molecules actually present in disks.
Why it matters
This basic research asks where planets get their chemical ingredients. The laboratory database and disk survey could help astronomers judge whether planets forming around other stars receive water and organic molecules. This would inform studies of exoplanet habitability and of the origins of volatiles in our own solar system, the easily vaporized compounds such as water.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Jonathan Williams
University of Hawaii at Manoa, HI·Astronomy & Astrophysics
Measure carbon monoxide in the inner, terrestrial planet-forming region of young disks (within about 5 au) using infrared spectroscopy from the Keck Observatory and NASA's Infrared Telescope Facility.
Alanna Hughes
Wesleyan University, CT·Astronomy & Astrophysics
Improve methods for analyzing centimeter-wavelength (microwave) continuum emission from protoplanetary disks, focusing on VLA observations.
Martin Cordiner
Catholic University of America, DC·Astronomy & Astrophysics
Measure the abundances of more than 26 molecules in the atmosphere of comet 12P/Pons-Brooks, and whether each comes from the icy core or is released farther out, by applying updated radiative transfer models to ALMA radio telescope data.
The school
Harvard University: 42 labs on PI Pages, $1.5B a year on research, 712 research doctorates a year.
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