Tag Archives: astrochemistry

Molecular Nobility

Posted on November 19, 2013 by Invader Xan

I have obtained permission from Haley Gomez to geek out over the internet about something in her talk at this conference today – which is possibly the most exciting thing I’ve ever seen at an astronomy conference! Specifically, none other … Continue reading →

Posted in astronomy, chemistry | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Surprise Conference

Posted on July 28, 2013 by Invader Xan

There are some times in this crazy academic lifestyle which make all of the hardships and woes entirely worthwhile. This, my dear readers, right here and right now. This is precisely one of those moments. As I type this, I’m … Continue reading →

Posted in academia, life | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Carnival of Space 262

Posted on August 12, 2012 by Invader Xan

Ladies and gentlemen and variations thereupon, I bid you welcome to this week’s edition of Carnival of Space. With Curiosity’s daredevil landing on Mars this week, there’s a distinctly martian flavour about this carnival! Whether this is your first time … Continue reading →

Posted in chemistry, space | Tagged , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

The Soot Line: Between fire and ice

Posted on July 19, 2012 by Invader Xan

The question of precisely what happens as stars and planets condense from vast clouds of gas is still very much an unanswered one. We have some good ideas of how things work, but really it’s difficult to be certain. Newly … Continue reading →

Posted in unassigned | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Interstellar Sleuths

Posted on June 6, 2012 by Invader Xan

“Of course, this identification is simply wrong.” That one remark caused a subdued but audible commotion in the audience, and a handful of shocked responses to be posted on twitter. The remark in question had been made by Jacek Krełowski, … Continue reading →

Posted in chemistry | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Bleach Clouds

Posted on May 12, 2012 by Invader Xan

An interesting thing happens to you if you study a particular field of astronomy for long enough. Certain things become familiar to you. Catalogue numbers like HD 44179 or IRC+10216° become commonplace, and the strings of numbers and letters which, … Continue reading →

Posted in Imported from Livejournal | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Impossible chemistry?

Posted on August 4, 2011 by Invader Xan

As The Doctor would say, “The Universe is big. It’s vast and complicated and ridiculous. And sometimes, very rarely, impossible things just happen…” That’s the theory, anyway. The interesting thing about studying, frankly, any kind of science is that you … Continue reading →

Posted in chemistry, Imported from Livejournal | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Pretty crystals

Posted on March 25, 2011 by Invader Xan

This rather pretty and slightly fractalicious image is a micrograph of some naphthalene crystals, taken in polarised light. Naphthalene is an aromatic hydrocarbon, with two rings fused together (not polycyclic, just bicyclic). Interestingly, the crystal in the image looks a … Continue reading →

Posted in chemistry, Imported from Livejournal | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Spaceballs 2: The Sequel

Posted on September 8, 2010 by Invader Xan

I wrote previously about a paper on the detection of fullerenes in the planetary nebula Tc1… And I mentioned then that there was more than one group of researchers working on much the same thing. The other group have now … Continue reading →

Posted in Imported from Livejournal | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Spaceballs 2: The Sequel

Spaceballs!

Posted on August 17, 2010 by Invader Xan

Causing quite a big stir in the astrochemical world recently is the astronomical detection of C60, more popularly known as fullerene. This is kind of a big deal. Fullerenes have been known about since the 1980s when Harry Kroto et … Continue reading →

Posted in Imported from Livejournal | Tagged , , | 1 Comment