Endogenous CO ice mixture on the surface of Europa and no detection of plume activity.

Jupiter's moon Europa has a subsurface ocean beneath an icy crust. Conditions within the ocean are unknown, and it is unclear whether it is connected to the surface. We observed Europa with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to search for active release of material by probing its surface and atmosphere.

Production of Hydronium Ion (HO) and Protonated Water Clusters (HO)H after Energetic Ion Bombardment of Water Ice in Astrophysical Environments.

Water ice exists on many objects in space. The most abundant icy species, among them water, are present in the icy satellites of the outer Solar System giant planets. The nuclei of comets, which are mainly composed of water ice, give another example of its abundance.

Photolysis of Cometary Organic Dust Analogs on the EXPOSE-R2 Mission at the International Space Station.

We describe the results obtained on a set of organic samples that have been part of the experiment "Photochemistry on the Space Station (PSS)" on the EXPOSE-R2 mission conducted on the EXPOSE-R facility situated outside the International Space Station (ISS). The organic samples were prepared in the Catania laboratory by 200 keV He irradiation of N:CH:CO icy mixtures deposited at 17 K, on vacuum UV (VUV) transparent MgF windows. This organic material contains different chemical groups, including triple CN bonds, that are thought to be of interest for astrobiology.

Infrared study on the thermal evolution of solid state formamide.

Laboratory experiments have shown that the energetic processing, i.e. ion bombardment and UV photolysis, of interstellar grain mantles and cometary surfaces is efficient in the production of formamide.