Martin Cordiner
Catholic University of America, DC·Astronomy & Astrophysics
Comets and Titan, Saturn's largest moon, both hold clues to the chemistry that existed as planets formed and that may lead toward life. Comets carry ices left over from the disk of gas and dust that built our solar system.
- Fields
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Chemistry
Earth & Environmental Science
- Topics
comets
12P/Pons-Brooks
Halley-type comet
- Grants
- 2 known grants, through Aug 2028
What they work on
- 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.
- Map organic, sulfur-bearing, and possibly prebiotic molecules in the comet's coma, and measure deuterium/hydrogen and nitrogen-14/nitrogen-15 isotope ratios that trace the history of cometary material.
- Determine the comet's gas temperature, density, flow speeds, and jets, and explain where extended gases originate using hydrodynamic models that include sunlight-driven chemistry and evaporating icy grains.
- Measure east-west winds across latitude and time in Titan's atmosphere between 200 and 1,000 km altitude, using archival ALMA maps of HC3N, HCN, and HNC from 2012 to 2016.
- Test the origin of Titan's time-varying thermospheric jet and the role of atmospheric waves in moving momentum, by comparing the measured winds with general circulation model simulations.
- Search archival ALMA data on Titan for new complex organic molecules that mark steps toward biologically relevant compounds in carbon- and nitrogen-rich atmospheres.
More about the research
Titan has a thick atmosphere rich in carbon, nitrogen, and organic compounds, and it is considered a possible stand-in for primitive, Earth-like planets. Both projects use the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), a radio telescope array that detects the faint light given off by molecules in gases. This light reveals which molecules are present, where they are, and how they move.
Why it matters
This is basic planetary science. A full inventory of the molecules in comet ices would give better starting conditions for origin-of-life studies. The isotope measurements could clarify the history of solar system material. Understanding Titan's winds, waves, and organic chemistry could explain what shapes the atmospheres of slowly rotating, Earth-like planets elsewhere in the Galaxy. It could also show which steps lead toward biologically relevant compounds in carbon- and nitrogen-rich atmospheres.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Karin Oberg
Harvard University, MA·Astronomy & Astrophysics
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.
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.
Adam Ginsburg
University of Florida, FL·Astronomy & Astrophysics·Early-career
Measure how fast and how much gas flows from parsec-scale clouds into ~1000 AU cores across 259 star-forming clumps in the ALMA Panta Rei survey, using dense-gas and infall/outflow molecular tracers.
The school
Catholic University of America: 2 labs on PI Pages, $58M a year on research, 79 research doctorates a year.
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