Thermal behavior of astrophysical amorphous molecular ices.

Ice is a major component of astrophysical environments - from interstellar molecular clouds through protoplanetary disks to evolved solar systems. Ice and complex organic matter coexist in these environments as well, and it is thought primordial ice brought the molecules of life to Earth four billion years ago, which could have kickstarted the origin of life on Earth. To understand the journey of ice and organics from their origins to becoming a part of evolved planetary systems, it is important to complement high spatial and spectral resolution telescopes such as JWST with laboratory experimental studies that provide deeper insight into the processes that occur in these astrophysical environments.

Molecular Isomer Identification of Titan's Tholins Organic Aerosols by Photoelectron/Photoion Coincidence Spectroscopy Coupled to VUV Synchrotron Radiation.

The chemical composition of Titan organic haze is poorly known. To address this issue, laboratory analogues named tholins are synthesized and analyzed by methods often requiring an extraction process in a carrier solvent. These methods exclude the analysis of the insoluble tholins' fraction and assume a hypothetical chemical equivalence between soluble and insoluble fractions.