Sacramento Valley Astronomical Society

Dr. Louis Allamandola will be the Speaker for the January SVAS General Meeting. The topic is “From Infrared Astrophysics to Astrobiology.”

January 15, 2010 at 8:00 PM, at Sacramento City College, Mohr Hall Room 3, 3835 Freeport Boulevard, Sacramento, CA.

Great strides have been made in our understanding of interstellar material thanks to advances in infrared astronomy and laboratory astrophysics. Ionized polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), shockingly large molecules by earlier astrochemical standards, are widespread and very abundant throughout much of the cosmos. In cold molecular clouds, the birthplace of planets and stars, interstellar atoms and molecules freeze onto extremely cold dust and ice particles forming mixed molecular ices dominated by simple species such as water, methanol, ammonia, and carbon monoxide. Within these clouds, and especially in the vicinity of star and planet forming regions, these ices and PAHs are processed by ultraviolet light and cosmic rays forming hundreds of far more complex species, some of biogenic interest. Eventually, these are delivered to primordial planets by comets and meteorites. As these materials are the building blocks of comets and related to carbonaceous micrometeorites, they are likely to be important sources of complex organic materials delivered to habitable planets (including the primordial Earth) and their composition may be related to the origin of life. This talk will focus on the chemical evolution of these cosmic materials and their relevance to astrobiology.

Dr. Lou Allamandola brings to The Astrochemistry Lab 20 years of experience in pioneering laboratory studies of ices of interstellar and planetary interest. Formally trained as a specialist in low temperature spectroscopy at the University of California at Berekeley under the tutelage of Professor George C. Pimentel, followed by postdoctoral research on energy transfer at cryogenic temperatures with Professor Joseph W. Nibler at Oregon State University, Lou worked for seven years in the Astrophysics Laboratory at Leiden University in the Netherlands where he developed the techniques required to prepare and study laboratory analogs of interstellar/pre-cometary ice grains using spectroscopic methods. At Leiden, from 1976 until 1983, he directed the research of six Ph.D. students. He established a new laboratory at NASA’s Ames Research Center in 1984. He opened up the field of interstellar polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) with Xander Tielens and John Barker, and is heavily involved in the laboratory studies of PAHs under relevant interstellar conditions. He has also participated in astronomical measurements of infrared spectra using the Kuiper Airborne Observatory, the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility, and the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope. Dr. Allamandola has served on several NASA advisory councils and is currently an active member of the Origins Subcommittee at NASA Headquarters. He has served on several scientific organizing committees and as proceedings editor for international symposia.

He received NASA-Ames’ H. Julian Allen Award for Best Scientific Paper from Ames in 1985 and in 2006 and NASA’s Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal in 1992. He was named NASA Ames Associate Fellow for 1996 and 1997. In 2006 he received The Presidential Rank Award and was elected to Fellowship in the American Physical Society (APS) and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

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