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D. Judge, R. Wu (University of Southern California), B. Cheng, H. Chen, H. Lu (National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center), USC Collaboration, NSRRC Collaboration
We wish to report our experimental results on the spectral identification of IR absorption features produced through EUV-UV photon-induced chemical reactions in the cometary-type ices and icy satellites of planetary systems. The mixed ice systems studied in the present work are N2+CH4 (1:1) and (1:4) mixed ices, NH3+CH4 (1:1) mixed ices, H2O+NH3+CO (1:1:1) mixed ices and H2O+NH3+CH4 (1:1:1) mixed ices at 10 K. A tunable intense synchrotron radiation light source available at the National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center, Hsinchu, Taiwan, was employed to provide the required EUV-VUV photons. In this study the photon wavelengths used to irradiate the icy samples were selected to center at the prominent solar lines, namely, the 30.4 nm, 58.4 nm, and 121.6 nm. New molecular species were produced in the ice samples at 10 K as a result of EUV-VUV photolysis. The new molecules identified were mainly C2H6, CO2, CO, CH3OH, HCOOH, HCO, H2CO, and HCN (and X-CN). The results obtained from the present study are important to our further understanding of chemical synthesis in ice analogs. The detailed results of this work will be presented. This research is based on work supported by the NASA Planetary Atmospheres Program under Grant NAG5-11960.
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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 36 #4
© 2004. The American Astronomical Soceity.