Dr. Jenny Noble

Aix-Marseille University, France
Jenny Noble is a research scientist with the CNRS, based in the Physics of the Interactions of Ions and Molecules laboratory in Marseille, France. She works with many spectroscopic techniques (from infrared on cold surfaces to tuneable UV- visible on isolated charged molecules) to study the molecular physics of systems from the size of a single molecule, via complexes and small aggregates, to macrosystems such as water ice or carbon particles. She applies her results to the interpretation of phenomena in astrophysical environments, notably the formation and reactivity of molecules in star forming regions. 

Talk title: Amorphous solid water: from the laboratory to the interstellar medium
Amorphous solid water has been studied in the laboratory for decades, not only as a model for liquid water, but also due to its interest for astrophysics. Ice mantles grow on dust grains in the coldest and densest regions of the interstellar medium, the process beginning in molecular clouds, with icy grains evolving on their journey through cores and protostars, to disks and, eventually, planets. The first observations of solid water in the interstellar medium were made around half a century ago and, ever since, the study of molecular solid analogues in the laboratory has been key to interpreting astronomical data. Measurement of the infrared absorption spectra of water-dominated icy analogues under cryogenic UHV conditions is critical for direct comparison to spectra obtained with telescopes, while physical chemical characterisation of the reactivity of these molecular solids when subjected to heating or to irradiation by photons, electrons or atomic ions builds up a picture of the mechanisms at play during star and planet formation. In this talk, I will give an overview of the techniques used to study amorphous water ices in the laboratory and the knowledge gained thereby on interstellar ice composition and evolution. I will go on to present some examples of how laboratory studies are being used to interpret observations as we enter the era of the James Webb Space Telescope.