Seminar - Finding Organic Dust in the Solar System: An Intersection of Physics, Chemistry, and Engineering - Nov. 10
Rebecca Mikula
PhD Student, Smead Aerospace
Friday, Nov. 10 | 10:40 a.m. | AERO 120
Abstract: Interplanetary dust particles can provide insight into the evolution of the solar system, we just need to analyze them. Dust impact ionization mass spectrometry gives a unique and previously underutilized opportunity to collect and analyze interplanetary dust particles in-situ. Impact ionization mass spectrometers will be flying on multiple upcoming missions such as NASA's Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe. It is critical to understand how organic particles likely to be found in the space environment will behave under impact ionization.
I will present an overview of dust science, dust spectrometer instrumentation, and the methodology and results of a pilot study detailing the analysis of a complex organic dust sample as a starting point to understanding the instrument requirements and data analysis process relevant to dust spectrometers for detecting interplanetary organic dust.
Bio: Rebecca Mikula is a PhD student in CU Boulder's Smead Aerospace department. She is advised by Dr. Zoltan Sternovsky and is focusing in Remote Sensing and Space Science. Her research focuses on cataloguing organic and mineral dust samples using the CU Boulder IMPACT Dust Facility's dust accelerator and prototype impact ionization dust mass spectrometers.
She also works on the characterization of the Interstellar Dust Experiment (IDEX) instrument, which will fly on NASA's Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP). Her personal research interests focus strongly on the study of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the solar system. Rebecca holds B.S. degrees in Astrophysics and General Chemistry from Morehead State University in Morehead, KY.