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.
![](http://media.physics.hmc.edu/media/talks/BrionyHorgan.png)