HMC Physics Colloquium

Tuesdays at 16:30 in Shanahan Center for Teaching and Learning, Room B460

Briony Horgan

Arizona State University

Good Vibrations for Habitable Environments on Ancient Mars from Orbital Spectroscopy

Nov. 13, 2012

Infrared spectroscopy from NASA satellites around Mars has revolutionized our understanding of what the surface of the planet looked like 4 billion years ago. In this talk, I will discuss the physics behind solid-state vibrational spectroscopy of minerals at these wavelengths, how we interpret signals from a planetary surface, and how we can use mineralogical data to infer climatic and environmental conditions on ancient Mars.