Coffee Chat

Brett and Munan Gong

The Grab & GO

1. Rotational Spectrum and Search for Lactonitrile toward Sgr B2(N)

Insausti et al. ApJ
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/adad54#apjadad54app1  

2. An 18-25 GHz spectroscopic survey of dense cores in the Chamaeleon I molecular cloud

Lis et al. arXiv (A&A)
https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.01755  

3. Hydrogenation of HOCO and formation of interstellar CO2: A not so straightforward relation

Molpeceres et al. arXiv (MNRAS)
https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.01692  

4. The hot corino-like chemistry of four FUor-like protostars

Cruz-Sáenz de Miera et al. arXiv (A&A)
https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.02762  

5. PDRs4All. XII. FUV-driven formation of hydrocarbon radicals and their relation with PAHs

J. R. Goicoechea et al. arXiv (A&A)
https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.03353  

6. ATOMS: ALMA Three-millimeter Observations of Massive Star-forming regions -XXI. A Large-sample Observational Study of Ethanol and Dimethyl Ether in Hot Cores

Kou et al. arXiv (MNRAS)
https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.07126  

7. Accurate Structures and Spectroscopic Parameters of CN-Substituted Polycyclic Hydrocarbons at DFT Cost

Barone et al. JPCA
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.jpca.5c00281   

8. CoCCoA: Complex Chemistry in hot Cores with ALMA. The chemical evolution of acetone from ice to gas

Chen et al. arXiv (A&A)
https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.13770   

9. A Multi-line Analysis of the Distribution and Excitation of CS and H2CS in the HD 163296 Disk

Law et al. arXiv (ApJ)
https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.16605   

10. Shock-induced HCNH+ abundance enhancement in the heart of the starburst galaxy NGC 253 unveiled by ALCHEMI

Gong et al. A&A
https://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/full_html/2025/04/aa52835-24/aa52835-24.html 

Single-Origin Brew

Divita Gupta chats with Wonju Kim

• Wonju's Paper on results from the CASCADE Survey
  https://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/full_html/2025/02/aa51998-24/aa51998-24.html 

Percolator

• History of the first detection of a molecule outside our galaxy.

  • Relevant Paper: https://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/pdf/1971ApJ...167L..47W

  • Nobel Laureates Discussed:

    • Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman

    • Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar

    • Tsung-Dao Lee

    • Chen Ning-yang

    • Chien-Shiung Wu (*Should have won)

Chalkboard

• Upcoming Meetings

  • Astrochemistry in the Broadband Era is a Workshop that will be held in Portland, Maine the week of Oct 20, 2025.  That's the Portland in New England on the Eastern Coast of the US.
    
    The astrochemical science that can currently be accomplished with radio facilities is fundamentally limited by narrow spectral bandwidths, but we are about to enter a new era of broadband radio astronomy.  ALMA (following the Wideband Sensitivity Upgrade, WSU) and the next-generation Very Large Array (ngVLA) will both deliver unprecedented spectral bandwidths while maintaining exquisite spectral resolution and sensitivity.  This data quality will transform the field of astrochemistry, but will also require entirely new approaches to data analysis.  This workshop is intended to survey the current state of astrochemistry in this specific context, identify high-priority science that can be achieved in the Broadband Era, and develop a community roadmap for approaching these new data challenges.
    
    The structure of this workshop is somewhat different from a normal meeting with most talk slots geared to setting up the daily group discussions. The program will include:

    • • "Primer" talks on specific topics given by ngVLA/WSU personnel and/or SOC members.

      • Invited outlook talks addressing key opportunities and challenges.

      • Focused science talks contributed from a small number of attendees.

      • A number of hour-long, moderated and guided group discussion sections on big-picture topics

Pre-registration and abstract submission are open now, and close May 1.

go.nrao.edu/broadband25

• • We’ll also remind you of a few others on our radar, but their abstract submission has already closed.  First is the astrochemistry mini-symposium at ISMS in June.  There will be more than 100 astrochemistry talks at this extremely affordable, friendly conference.   There is also an astrochemistry session at this summer’s meeting of the European Astronomical Society, and there’s a dedicated astrochemistry meeting at the PacificChem 2025 conference in December.
    
    

• Job Opportunities
  
  

  • There’s a postdoc position available in experimental gas-phase chemical physics - molecular energy transfer for astrophysical applications at the Institute of Physics, Rennes, France.  The postdoc will conduct experimental research in fundamental chemical physics, with particular application to molecular astrophysics and astrochemistry. BRIGHTER is a single team ANR project recently awarded to a group led by Ian Sims and François Lique from the Department of Molecular Physics at the IPR. The project combines experiments and theory to understand and model the transfer of energy that occurs between molecules when they collide in the gas phase, and has grown out of two recent ERC projects in the DPM, CRESUCHIRP (https://cresuchirp.wordpress.com) and COLLEXISM (https://collexism.com). It has direct relevance to astronomical observations, in particular of molecules that are detected in the atmospheres or comae of comets.
    
    Candidates should hold or expect to hold a PhD in gas-phase experimental physics or (physical) chemistry. Experience in the use of microwave spectroscopy, pulsed lasers, vacuum and gas handling techniques and computer interfacing and programming is highly desirable. Experience in the supervision of research (e.g. undergraduate projects) would also be advantageous. A good working knowledge of English is essential.

The position is available to start in the period May—October 2025 (initially for 12 months, renewable for a further period of 18 months by mutual agreement) and a competitive salary will be offered. Inquires and applications, including a detailed CV citing grades, a letter of intent, and the names and contact details of two (or three if possible) potential referees, should be addressed to Prof. Ian Sims (ian.sims@univ-rennes.fr).  Review of candidatures will begin immediately, and the call will remain open until a suitable candidate has been appointed. Contact Ian for more information.

• A postdoc position in theoretical molecular physics and astrophysics is available at University College London to Prof Jonathan Tennyson on an STFC funded project “Extending ExoMol into the ultraviolet: Sulphur containing molecules”. This aims to expand the scope of the ExoMol database (www.exomol.com) to studies of the temperature-dependent photoabsorption and photodissociation of molecules such as water, H2S, SO2, SO and HS. This work will be based on the use of high accuracy electronic structure calculations and the use of variational nuclear motion programs to generate final result. The ExoMol teams at UCL are the world leaders in providing spectroscopic data and modelling tools for the characterisation of exoplanets and other atmospheres but so far have largely concentrated on process at infrared and visible wavelength. This project aims spearhead a major expansion to shorter wavelengths..
  
  

Informal enquiries can be made to

Prof Jonathan  Tennyson (j.tennyson@ucl.ac.uk)

Closing date for applications: 23 April 2025

Further particulars and application procedure can be found via:

www.tinyurl.com/exomolpostdoc