Speaker
Description
The new stunning observations delivered by the James Webb Space Telescope are revolutionizing our view of the molecular universe, in particular when it comes to large carbon-containing species such as Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) and carbon cages. The JWST infrared spectra show a treasure of spectroscopic features that change in response to the physical conditions in the astronomical object and thus speak of active photochemistry shaping the population of carbonaceous molecule [1,2]. The synergies between experiments, quantum chemistry calculations and modelling are fundamental to get insight on the behavior of molecules in the interstellar medium and interpret the observations. In this talk I will present the latest efforts to constrain how the molecular properties of PAHs (such as size and shape) influence their destruction.
