Big ideas don’t wait — and neither do the researchers behind them.

The 2026 Reach for the Stars honorees — six Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ assistant professors — are already making a substantial impact on their respective fields through meaningful research and creative work that extends far beyond campus, with national and international influence.

Across disciplines, their work and research reflect a shared mission to advance ideas into impact — uncovering what shapes ethical decision-making in the workplace; exploring the origins of our solar system; developing computational solutions to meet future energy demands; designing more intuitive and reliable software experiences; strengthening education for students with disabilities; and engineering faster, more energy-efficient artificial intelligence (AI) systems.

Together, this brilliant group represents the kind of bold, forward-thinking innovation Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ continues to champion.

Each year, the Reach for the Stars awards recognize early-career faculty opening new doors for what’s possible across their fields. The prestigious award is second only to Pegasus Professor as Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½â€™s highest faculty honor.

In recognition of their achievements, each honoree will receive a $10,000 annual research grant for three years in addition to the distinction of being an award recipient.

The Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ community is cordially invited to come and congratulate the recipients from 3-5 p.m. Wednesday, April 1, in the Pegasus Ballroom at the Student Union as part of the 2026 Founders’ Day Faculty Honors Celebration.

This year’s Reach for the Stars honorees are:

John Bush

Assistant professor of management in the College of Business

What’s something few people know about you?

Working at Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ is a homecoming for me. Growing up in Florida, I had the opportunity to experience all the great things this state and its universities have to offer. And while my younger self might not have predicted I’d end up in Black & Gold, Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ and Orlando have been incredible homes.

What does your research focus on?

I study when, why, and how employees cross ethical lines, and what role leaders, management policies, and organizational systems play in those decisions. A big part of what makes my work unique is that I focus on an important puzzle: how things we typically think of as “good” can promote unethical behavior. We tend to assume that well-intentioned management practices will always lead to good outcomes. However, my research shows that’s not always the case, and the unintended consequences can be significant.

What drives you to take on this challenge?

Before I entered academia, I worked in corporate finance and accounting. That experience meaningfully shaped how I think about ethics in organizations.

There’s a common assumption that unethical behavior is a “bad appleâ€� problem, or rather, that it comes down to an individual’s character or integrity. But as my work has shown, it’s often a “bad barrelâ€� problem. The environments organizations create, the systems they put in place and the ways managers approach leadership profoundly influence how people behave.

What makes Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ the right place for you to do this kind of work?

I’m a firm believer that the people make the place — and the faculty, staff and students of Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ are truly what make it such a great place to be. The College of Business has a management department full of colleagues who are both excellent scholars and genuinely collaborative people.

What’s next for you or your research?

I’m excited about several new directions, each of which builds upon my existing work. I’m particularly interested in examining more nuanced, less studied drivers of ethical decision-making. For example, what happens when someone becomes an accidental witness to unethical behavior? How does that experience shape what they do next and the moral burden that’s placed on them?

Ana Carolina de Souza-Feliciano

Assistant professor at the

What’s something few people know about you?

While many people know I’m not afraid to face challenges, few know that I’m afraid of roller coasters.

What does your research focus on?

I study the small bodies of our solar system (objects such as asteroids, Trojans and trans-Neptunian objects) from an observational perspective to try to understand how our planetary system formed and evolved. The small bodies that remain from the early solar system still preserve clues about the materials and conditions that existed when planets formed. By observing their surfaces, compositions and physical properties, we can piece together the history of how the solar system came to be.

What drives you to take on this challenge?

The solar system still holds many unanswered questions, and every observation has the potential to reveal something completely new about its history. I’m especially motivated by the idea that these small and distant objects preserve a record of the earliest stages of planetary formation, and since we still don’t know much about them, we need to better characterize these groups to have a chance of getting closer to important scientific answers.

What makes Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ the right place for you to do this kind of work?

Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ provides a dynamic research environment with strong collaborations and access to facilities that help me achieve my scientific goals.

What’s next for you or your research?

I aim to expand my research group and continue developing new projects exploring the composition and physical properties of small bodies in the outer solar system.

Shyam Kattel

Assistant professor of physics in the College of Sciences

What’s something few people know about you?

I enjoy long, quiet walks or runs. It’s when I do my best thinking and come up with new ideas for teaching and research.

What does your research focus on?

My research group is interested in understanding chemical processes through computer simulations. These chemical processes are central to many energy and fuel generation and energy conversion processes. We are exploring the design of catalytic materials that selectively convert abundant small molecules, such as CO2, N2, NO3, O2 and H2O, to a wide variety of synthetic chemicals and fuels in a carbon-neutral way to fulfill the growing energy demand of the future.

What drives you to take on this challenge?

I’m a huge advocate of sustainability. I’m fascinated by the rapid development and advancement of modern computers, machine learning (ML) and AI, which have enabled us to understand complex science on a time scale that’s impossible with traditional trial and error methods. This unique opportunity to utilize supercomputers with ML and AI to tackle energy and sustainability challenges keeps me awake at night.

What makes Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ the right place for you to do this kind of work?

By training, I’m a physicist, but my research focuses on looking into chemical reactions. Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½â€™s physics department is among a handful of institutions in the U.S. with a very strong catalysis program. This allows me to collaborate within the department and teach a physics course, which I enjoy. Additionally, the university’s large size and research facilities present opportunities to recruit the best students and to collaborate both within and beyond the department.

What’s next for you or your research?

My lab is developing capabilities to integrate ML and AI into our methods for understanding structure-materials property relationships across a large set of materials, driving the development of the next generation of clean and sustainable energy and fuel generation technologies. Our goal is to develop an integrated materials design framework that anyone can use for their research and for teaching research-based undergraduate and graduate courses.

Kevin Moran

Assistant professor of computer science in the College of Engineering and Computer Science, director of the Software Automation, Generation and Engineering Research Lab and affiliate of the Cyber Security and Privacy faculty cluster initiative

What’s something few people know about you?

I was a Division 1 rower as an undergraduate at the College of the Holy Cross. Our team competed in the national championship regatta my senior year and was ranked among the top 20 teams in the country.

What does your research focus on?

If you’ve ever been frustrated by glitches in apps or websites, my students, collaborators and I aim to give engineers the tools they need to build more reliable software. My group has pioneered work in user interface engineering, focusing on user-facing systems and making software easier to use.

What drives you to take on this challenge?

Since I was young, I’ve enjoyed building things, taking them apart and understanding how they work. I view software as the ultimate engineering medium, where abstract ideas can quickly become reality. What excites me most is tackling the complexity of modern software systems by developing tools that engineers can easily adopt. Seeing those tools save engineers hours or days of time is truly fun.

What makes Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ the right place for you to do this kind of work?

Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ has been an excellent place to grow as an early-career researcher. I’ve received invaluable mentorship from department and college leadership, as well as senior faculty. The university’s connection to the local tech industry is also exciting, and I look forward to forming connections with local companies to put our tools into practice.

What’s next for you or your research?

Software engineering is rapidly shifting toward agentic workflows, where AI-powered agents perform engineering tasks autonomously. While this increases speed, it also introduces complex errors that are harder to spot. My lab aims to understand these software engineering agents, improve their reliability and create tools that help developers use them effectively.

Soyoung Park

Assistant professor of teacher education in the College of Community Innovation and Education (CCIE)

What’s something few people know about you?

When I travel for conferences, I love to explore local bookstores and cafes.

What does your research focus on?

My research focuses on transforming educator preparation to better support students with disabilities. Supported by more than $3.75 million in U.S. Department of Education funding, my work prepares special education teachers, speech-language pathologists and school psychologists to serve students with autism spectrum disorders and high-intensity needs. I also develop evidence-based mathematics interventions for students with learning disabilities.

What drives you to take on this challenge?

Mathematics remains an area where both research and practice need stronger alignment. Teachers need accessible, evidence-based guidance on how to teach effectively, but it isn’t always easy to find or interpret. Students need consistent access to high-quality instruction that meets their individual needs. I’m interested in helping bridge that gap so that research can better support educators and the students they serve.

What makes Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ the right place for you to do this kind of work?

Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½â€™s strong infrastructure for research and collaboration further amplifies my work. Support from the Office of Research has been instrumental in advancing my research development, grant capacity and interdisciplinary collaboration. As a CCIE research fellow and affiliated faculty member at the Toni Jennings Exceptional Education Institute, I have valuable opportunities to engage in interdisciplinary collaboration across colleges.

What’s next for you or your research?

Our next project focuses on synthesizing large data sets to help educators identify mathematics interventions that align with their students’ needs. We’re also exploring how AI can support this process through pedagogical AI chatbots and interactive web-based platforms that guide educators in interpreting and applying research evidence in practice. Ultimately, this work aims to strengthen both instruction and student outcomes at scale.

Hao Zheng

Assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering in the College of Engineering and Computer Science

What’s something few people know about you?

I enjoy traveling, especially visiting national parks and exploring new cities. Each trip helps me recharge, and I often come back with fresh perspectives and new ideas.

What does your research focus on?

My research focuses on making today’s AI systems faster, more energy-efficient and more reliable by bridging the gap between algorithms and hardware. AI has reshaped daily life, but behind the scenes, modern AI models require enormous amounts of computation and energy. My work explores new ways to co-design hardware and software so AI can run efficiently, especially for irregular or sparse data structures, such as graphs.

What drives you to take on this challenge?

I’m driven by both the importance and the difficulty of the problem. We’re at the turning point of rethinking future computing systems. Defining a new computing paradigm, despite its challenges, can have a far-reaching impact across society. Our research can fundamentally reshape how future computers are designed and how AI is deployed at scale.

What makes Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ the right place for you to do this kind of work?

Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ is an ideal place to pursue bold research ideas, supported by strong momentum in engineering, computing and interdisciplinary collaboration. The university also offers an exceptional and supportive community of mentors and collaborators, including students, who set a high bar for excellence. I’ve been fortunate to work with many outstanding colleagues, and those experiences have shaped how I think about building a high-impact research program and growing as a scholar.

What’s next for you or your research?

Next, we’re expanding our work toward real-world deployments, including applications in healthcare and robotics. We’re also continuing to strengthen our research in building processors for AI and scientific computing so that our ideas can translate into improvements in performance and energy efficiency.

In a new study published in The Planetary Science Journal, researchers from Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL) and other institutions explored a unique, spider-like feature in Manannán Crater on Europa, one of Jupiter’s icy moons.

First observed by NASA’s Galileo spacecraft, the feature may have formed from briny water eruptions beneath the ice, offering clues about subsurface liquid water and potential habitability on Europa.

“Europa is a fascinating moon to study because its subsurface ocean may have the conditions to support life.” — Lauren Mc Keown, assistant professor at Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½

“By understanding surface expressions, we can learn more about processes and conditions where liquid water may exist below the surface,â€� says Lauren Mc Keown, assistant professor at Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½â€™s .

Using Earth’s lake stars as analogs, combined with field observations, lab experiments and modeling, the researchers hope to gain valuable insights into how these icy features form, which could have implications for future missions that might land on Europa and other icy airless worlds.

Originally from Ireland, Mc Keown’s interest in space began as a teenager when she first learned about the Cassini spacecraft, which explored Enceladus, a small icy moon of Saturn.

“I was fascinated by the animations showing a water plume shooting miles above the moon’s surface and the possibility that liquid water, or even an ocean, might exist there,� she says. “It encouraged me to explore NASA’s website to learn more about icy planetary surfaces and eventually pursue a career in planetary science at Trinity College Dublin.�

As an icy planetary geomorphologist, Mc Keown studies surface features and processes on icy planets, moons and small bodies.

“My research includes analyzing Martian ‘spiders,’ which are dendritic — branching, tree-like — features that form in the regolith near Mars’ south pole,� she says. “Now, I’m applying that knowledge to other planetary surfaces, including Europa.�

While Martian spiders form when dust and sand are eroded by escaping gas below a seasonal dry ice layer, Mc Keown believes Europa’s “asterisk-shaped� feature may have formed after impact, when liquid brine within the icy shell extruded through broken-up ice from impact to form a pattern similar to Earth’s lake stars.

“Lake stars are radial, branching patterns that form when snow falls on frozen lakes, and the weight of the snow creates holes in the ice, allowing water to flow through the snow, melting it and spreading in a way that is energetically favorable,� she says.

Dendritic patterns like these are common in nature, appearing in Lichtenberg figures created by lightning strikes, in beach rilles where tides flow through sand, and in many other systems where fluid flows through porous surfaces.

“I’m fascinated by these beautiful features on Earth, and there is very little research on how lake stars are formed�, Mc Keown says. “This inspired my team to explore whether similar processes could explain the pattern on Europa, albeit under different pressure and temperature conditions.�

In the study, researchers proposed a new explanation for the feature, informally naming it Damhán Alla, Irish for “spider,� to distinguish it from Martian spider formations. They suggest it may have formed in a way similar to lake stars on frozen Earth lakes, under locally temporary elevated temperatures and pressures caused by an impact that created Europa’s Manannán crater.

“Lake stars on Earth are star-shaped or branched melt patterns that form when warmer water rises through thin ice and spreads through overlying slush or snow before freezing,� Mc Keown says. “On Europa, we believe a subsurface brine reservoir could have erupted and spread through porous surface ice, producing a similar pattern.�

To test this hypothesis, Mc Keown and colleagues conducted field and lab experiments, observing lake stars in Breckenridge, Colorado, and recreating the process in a cryogenic glovebox at JPL, using Europa ice simulants cooled with liquid nitrogen.

“We flowed water through these simulants under different temperatures and found that similar star-like patterns formed even under extremely cold temperatures (-100°C), supporting the idea that the same mechanism could occur on Europa after impact,� Mc Keown says.

Elodie Lesage, a research scientist at the Planetary Science Institute and co-author of the study, modeled how a brine pool might behave beneath Europa’s surface after this impact, and the team created an animation illustrating the process.

Observations of Europa’s icy features have been limited to images from the Galileo spacecraft.

Mc Keown’s team hopes to resolve this question with higher-resolution imagery from the Europa Clipper mission, a NASA spacecraft scheduled to arrive at the Jupiter system in April 2030.

“The significance of our research is really exciting,� Mc Keown says. “Surface features like these can tell us a lot about what’s happening beneath the ice. If we see more of them with Europa Clipper, they could point to local brine pools below the surface.�

The findings provide insights for possible patterns on Europa; however, researchers caution against relying solely on Earth analogs to understand other planetary surfaces.

“While lake stars have provided valuable insight, Earth’s conditions are very different from Europa’s,� Mc Keown says. “Earth has a nitrogen-rich atmosphere, while Europa’s environment is extremely low in pressure and temperature. In this study, we combined field observations with lab experiments to better simulate Europa’s surface conditions.�

Mc Keown is also proud of the collaborative nature of the work.

“This study came together organically and reflects a value that’s important to me: community,� she says. “I’ve had the opportunity to work with an incredible group of scientists — including JPL Planetary Geologist Jennifer Scully, with whom I collaborated to name the feature — whose multidisciplinary expertise was essential to this research. There are not many Irish planetary scientists, so working together has been rewarding, particularly because many of Europa’s features have Irish and Celtic names.�

Looking ahead, Mc Keown plans to investigate how low pressure affects the formation of these features and whether they could form beneath an icy crust, similar to how lava flows on Earth to create smooth, ropy textures called pahoehoe.

“I’m setting up a new lab at Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½, called the FROSTIE (Facility for Research Observing Simulated Topography of Icy Environments) Lab, where I’m designing a chamber specifically for these experiments. I am currently involving students to create icy simulants for this work while continuing to collaborate with JPL,â€� she says.

Although geomorphology was the main focus of this study, the findings offer important clues about subsurface activity and habitability, which are crucial for future astrobiology research.

“I’ve spoken with astrobiologists interested in these patterns, including how microbes might inhabit lakes on Earth,â€� Mc Keown says. “There’s great potential for collaboration across disciplines with this research, and I look forward to connecting with colleagues and students at Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ who are as passionate and excited about this work as I am.â€�

Early diagnosis of infectious disease is key to slowing outbreaks and improving treatment outcomes. However, current diagnostic techniques are time-consuming, require specialized equipment and are dependent on trained personnel, which hinders accessibility in resource-limited areas.

A Low-Cost, Smartphone-Enabled Diagnostic Platform

Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ researcher Debashis Chanda, a professor at Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½â€™s , has developed a self-assembled colorimetric biosensor that can be read using a regular smartphone. The cost-effective platform delivers sensitive and robust detection without needing any sophisticated equipment. The research was recently published and featured as a cover article in Nano Letters, an esteemed scholarly journal published by the American Chemical Society.

Additional researchers on this study include Mahdi Soudi — a physics doctoral student and the lead author of the publication — as well as Caitlin Beech, Pablo Cencillo-Abad, Ishani Chanda, A�ngel David Torres Palencia, Amir Ghazizadeh, Pamela Mastranzo-Ortega, Freya Mehta, Javier Sanchez-Mondragón and Abraham Vázquez-Guardado.

The technology combines several novel features:

• Wafer-level fabrication without complex lithography
• Label-free assay format
• Smartphone-enabled readout for portable and low-cost analysis
• Broad dynamic range that spans physiologically relevant IgG concentrations with high reproducibility

Together, these attributes distinguish this approach from earlier colorimetric sensors and showcase its strong potential for real-world applications.

“The sensor works well because of its simple design: a layer of aluminum nanoparticles on a thin optical cavity. This setup makes it very sensitive to small molecular interactions. The sensor uses structural color — like the vivid colors seen in some species — created by the arrangement of two colorless materials. The color can change based on shifts in the local refractive index caused by molecular binding, which alters the resonance and the color seen on the surface. These color changes can be measured using a smartphone,� Chanda says.

Inspired by Vivid Colors

Based on such bio-inspirations, Chanda’s research group innovated a colorimetric sensor, which utilizes the nanoscale structural arrangement of colorless materials to create colors and corresponding changes in colors to sense molecules.

While pigment colorants control light absorption based on the material’s electronic properties — meaning every color needs a new molecule and isn’t sensitive to the surrounding environment — structural colorants control the way light is reflected, scattered or absorbed based purely on the geometrical arrangement of nanostructures and are sensitive to change of medium.

Such structural color-based sensors are environmentally friendly, relying only on metals and oxides, unlike other sensors that use artificially synthesized colorants made from complex, toxic molecules.

Designed for Real-World Use

To demonstrate its translational potential, the research team also developed a smartphone application that processes user-captured sensor images and estimates analyte concentration, eliminating the need for bulky optics, spectrometers or trained personnel. This biosensing strategy paves the way for low-cost, rapid, user-friendly diagnostics, empowering individuals to combat infectious diseases and outbreaks more effectively.

“This work introduces a novel platform that addresses the limitations of conventional diagnostic techniques such as complexity, the need for specialized equipment and lack of accessibility,� Chanda says. “Here, we’re not limited by such stringent resource requirements. A smartphone can be used as a diagnostic tool for most point-of-care needs.�

In addition to its diagnostic utility, the platform is highly scalable. More than 20 independent deposition runs supporting over 50 assays showed consistent sensor performance, with yields above 90% and defects mainly due to handling rather than fabrication variability. Because the fabrication relies on thin-film deposition and self-assembly instead of costly lithography, the sensors are inexpensive to produce and compatible with wafer-scale production, making them ideal for disposable point-of-care diagnostics.

Future Research

Chanda says the next steps of the project include further exploration of sensor sensitivity and selectivity aspects to improve its viability as a commercial biochemical sensing platform.

“This biosensing platform holds promise for addressing unmet needs in precise, rapid antibody detection and represents a significant step toward the development of robust, field-deployable biosensors capable of meeting diagnostic requirements in resource-limited and decentralized healthcare environments,� Chanda says.

Licensing Opportunity

For more information about licensing this technology, visit .

Researcher Credentials

Chanda holds joint appointments in Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½â€™s NanoScience Technology Center, the Department of Physics and the College of Optics and Photonics. He received his doctoral degree in photonics from the University of Toronto and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He joined Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ in Fall 2012.

Founded to reach the moon, we’re already on our way to the next frontier. Built for liftoff, America’s Space University celebrates Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ Space Week Nov. 3-7.

Where Global Leaders Unite to Boldly Forge the Future of Space

As SpaceU, Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ is pushing the boundaries of exploration once again by launching a groundbreaking new doctoral program in the planetary and space sciences. Now, aspiring researchers can apply to the inaugural cohort of the program, which launches Fall 2026 and is offered through the College of Sciences’ Department of Physics.

Apply to the planetary and space sciences doctoral program by the Dec. 1, 2025, priority deadline.

“It’s relatively unusual to have a separate Ph.D. program in planetary and space sciences like this,� says Yan Fernandez, professor of physics and director of the new doctoral program. “It’s an exciting step forward. We have a large number of faculty working on planetary science and there are very few universities with that kind of knowledge in one place.�

The new doctoral program is interdisciplinary in its approach, bringing in elements from astrobiology, astronomy, data analysis, geology, physics and more. The program originated as a planetary sciences track as part of a doctoral degree in physics and was approved by the Board of Governors in Florida as the first and only planetary and space sciences doctoral program in the state.

“As SpaceU, we are aiming to be the premier engineering and technology university in the state and a destination for space-focused learning in the world,� says Addie Dove, professor and chair of the Department of Physics. “We want to ensure the programs we offer reflect the university’s strategic approach as well as what’s necessary to succeed in today’s workforce.�

What Students Can Expect from the Program

The new degree will position graduates for employment opportunities that are projected to grow in Florida and nationwide. Program graduates will have the knowledge and skills necessary for roles in governmental agencies such as NASA, the private space industry, academia and research institutions. Graduates will be prepared to work as scientists within fields that include astronomy, atmospheric physics, space science and geoscience.

“This program is not just for physics students, but also for students who have studied geology, engineering, data science or  many other STEM fields,� Dove says. “We have a number of faculty who built hardware that has gone or will travel into space and there’s an opportunity for students with more of an engineering background to pursue this doctorate.�

“Having a strong foundation in scientific thinking is important, whether individuals are building hardware going to other planetary surfaces, working on next generation telescopes, or considering problems that have not even been imagined yet,� she continues.

The program broadens the areas of study to include not only physics but also astrochemistry, astrogeology, astrobiology, and scientific instrument development. Fernandez also emphasizes the importance of big data and machine learning in planetary science.

“There’s a need for a program like this because we are awash in data,� Fernandez says. “Students who understand these aspects of big data, efficient programming and working in problems in planetary science can contribute in many ways to innovative research and to cutting-edge science.�

Fueling the Future of Space

Dove notes that the students who have pursued the initial planetary sciences track in the physics doctorate program have successfully worked on space-related research.

“There are many possibilities available through the program’s large network,� she says. “Many of our students obtain internships or fellowships over the course of their studies, and we create high impact experiences within our classes. Our graduates have become postdocs and have worked on spacecraft missions. Some have continued into academia, some have worked for NASA and we have also seen students go on to work for companies that develop hardware and technology to send to space.�

Dove shares that it is important to be responsive to the changing needs of industry, while providing opportunities for students to work in the collaborative ways that researchers often work in planetary science and all of STEM.

“We wanted to ensure that the program reflected the values of our department, college and university and embraced our shared passion to boldly push the frontiers of knowledge,� Dove says.

Note to Prospective Students: Enrollment is currently open for admission in the Fall 2026, with a priority deadline of Dec. 1, 2025. You may apply after the early deadline, and can reach out to faculty with research areas of interest. Be sure to apply to the planetary and space sciences doctoral program and not the track. Contact planets@ucf.edu for more information.

Founded to reach the moon, we’re already on our way to the next frontier. Built for liftoff, America’s Space University celebrates Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ Space Week Nov. 3-7.

Where Global Leaders Unite to Boldly Forge the Future of Space

Space observations, combined with laboratory astrophysics methods, help scientists understand how the universe forms. Professor of Physics Viatcheslav Kokoouline and colleagues are studying the dissociative recombination (known as DR) of the H3+ ion and its isotopic modification, the D2H+ ion — a process that occurs throughout space, including in regions where planets are formed and in planetary atmospheres. By studying this process, Kokoouline is advancing our understanding of the chemical composition and conditions of the universe, including the presence of water and the formation of life.

In this interview, he explains the significance of his team’s study, published in Nature Communications, and how it deepens our knowledge of the cosmos.

Can you share your research and what led you to study dissociative recombination of D2H+ ions?

I’m interested in the fundamental, microscopic processes that occur in molecular plasma and how molecules behave under varying temperatures. In space, many processes, including DR, occur in plasma and are affected by their surrounding environment.

DR is particularly important in astrophysics because it helps explain the chemical composition of interstellar clouds, planetary atmospheres, and the processes that may lead to the formation of water and organic molecules. Beyond space science, DR also has applications in the semiconductor industry, where understanding how ions and molecules recombine can improve the design and efficiency of electronic devices.

Because of its relevance to both science and applied technology, DR is a high-demand area for developing new methods to study and accurately measure molecular reactions.

What is the main goal of this study?

The goal of this study is to better understand how DR helps scientists model astrophysical environments, such as the atmospheres of Jupiter and Saturn, as well as technological plasmas found in fusion reactors, plasma-assisted engines and the semiconductor industry.

Our study examined how H3+ and D2H+ ions interact with electrons under extremely cold conditions through the DR process using a cryogenic storage ring — a type of particle accelerator that holds ions in an ultra-cold, nearly air-free environment so their behavior can be observed.  This process impacts how molecules form, their abundance, how plasmas behave, and the chemical reactions that influence energy transfer, gas release, and the formation of radical species — highly reactive atoms or molecules that help shape the chemistry of their surroundings.

Could you explain what happens during the “dissociative recombination� process?

Dissociative recombination is a chemical reaction in which a molecular ion collides with a free electron and breaks apart into neutral particles. This process takes place in a variety of environments — from interstellar clouds and planetary atmospheres to laboratory plasma experiments.

It’s important because it controls the abundance of key ions, influences chemical reactions and affects energy transfer in these systems. Understanding DR is critical for modeling the chemistry of space and planetary atmospheres, and for improving plasma processes in fusion reactors, plasma-assisted combustion, and the semiconductor industry.

What is significant about these findings?

Our results show that D2H+ ions have a lower DR rate, meaning they tend to survive longer in interstellar environments. This discovery may have significance for deuterium fractionation — a process that helps scientists understand how stars and planets begin to form.

In regions where stars form, deuterium-containing molecules act as chemical clocks, revealing the physical conditions and evolutionary stages of cold molecular clouds that collapse to form stars and planets. A higher abundance of molecules like D₂H� or HDO (a heavier version of water) signals the early stages of star formation. Tracking these changes gives scientists valuable clues about how water, and potentially the conditions for life, first emerged in the universe.

What does this research mean to you?

When I started working in science, my decision to pursue this field was influenced by one of the professors I worked with, whose expertise was in atomic and molecular physics. Over time, I became fascinated by molecular collisions; not just because they are intellectually interesting, but also because they have many real-world applications. That combination of curiosity and practical impact is what keeps me engaged in this research and drives me to answer important questions about the origins of the universe and life.

Founded to reach the moon, we’re already on our way to the next frontier. Built for liftoff, America’s Space University celebrates Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ Space Week Nov. 3-7.

Where Global Leaders Unite to Boldly Forge the Future of Space

There’s still much we don’t understand about our universe, but scientists are uncovering new clues by studying rocks, down to the smallest particles of dust, that reveal the story of how our solar system formed.

Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ Associate Professor of Physics Ryan Ogliore is advancing knowledge of the solar system by analyzing rocks from space.

“Using microanalytical techniques, I study extraterrestrial samples of various forms down to the level of atoms,� Ogliore says. “Samples can include rocks from meteorites that land on Earth, as well as materials collected from asteroids, comets and other planets through robotic or crewed missions.�

One of the main tools in his research is isotopic analysis, which includes measuring the decay of radioactive isotopes to determine the age and history of rock samples.

“Isotopes are fascinating because they can act like natural clocks,� Ogliore says. “They tell us when certain processes occurred, which helps us understand how planets formed from the solar nebula four and a half billion of years ago.�

Why He Joined SpaceU

Originally from Seattle, Ogliore says his fascination with planetary science began in childhood, when images from NASA’s Voyager missions inspired him to pursue a career in physics. Later, joining Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ felt like a natural fit to advance his research.

“My first visit to Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ was for a workshop, and I was immediately struck by the university’s strong identity as SpaceU, from its street names, like Gemini, to its football uniforms (for the annual Space Game),â€� he says. “Even more impressive is the breadth of multidisciplinary space research happening here.â€�

Having the technology and tools here at SpaceU is instrumental to the research conducted by Ogliore. He says that samples returned from space can be studied with great precision with tools on Earth.

“That’s the power of bringing samples back home,� he says. “We can study them using highly precise instruments, like large spectrometers that can take up an entire room.�

Findings That Fuel Discovery and Exploration

Among some of his most significant projects, Ogliore highlights his work with NASA’s Stardust mission to comet Wild 2, a nearly 20-year investigation that revealed surprising results.

“We sent a spacecraft to collect microscopic dust from a comet, full of primordial ice, and discovered that its composition was made up of igneous rocks — materials that form during very high temperature events in the solar system,� he says. “That finding suggested the comet wasn’t just a leftover piece of the Solar System’s building blocks, as we first thought, but rather a record of a more complex later stage of solar system formation.�

Discoveries like these keep Ogliore inspired to continue planetary exploration. Now, he’s turning his focus to distant planets in some of the most unique and extreme environments in the solar system.

“I’m interested in the next phase of robotic exploration of the solar system, and I’m involving students with this research,� he says.

Using Robots and Other Tech to Advance Space Studies

To date, Ogliore says that moon, asteroid and comet rock samples have been brought back for analysis, but now, he wants to study samples from the moons of planets like Jupiter, Saturn and beyond.

“The moons of these planets are worlds in their own right,� he says. “Jupiter’s moon Io, is one I’m particularly interested in. This moon is covered in volcanoes and flowing lava, and we’re working on developing a long-term mission concept to return volcanic ash from Io to Earth for study.�

Because of Io’s distance to Earth and intense radiation, Ogliore explains that such a mission would take more than 20 years to complete and rely on a robotic spacecraft. One of his undergraduate students is already modeling what scientists might expect from the samples once they return to Earth.

“Exploring these distant and exotic worlds like Io is something that I, and many of my students, find exciting,� he says.

Looking ahead, Ogliore hopes to develop the next generation of space-based hardware, from sampling technologies to new propulsion systems.

“We need new ways to travel through space,â€� he says. “Right now, we’re limited in our exploration of distant worlds, including sample returns, by chemical rockets. Developing new forms of propulsion will revolutionize exploration and working on that effort with like-minded colleagues at Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ is very exciting.â€�

To advance to the possibilities of living on other planets, researchers are examining what is needed to keep those explorers safe, including food, power sources, climate acclimation and transportation.

Among the Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½â€™s researchers leading this work is College of Sciences Assistant Professor Ramses Ramirez, a planetary scientist and astrobiologist who’s  studying how Martian nanoparticles could be used to warm the planet’s surface to a habitable temperature in a process known as terraforming.

As a solar system and exoplanet enthusiast, Ramirez says our solar system is an example of an exoplanetary system. Using the knowledge of our solar system and exoplanets around it, Ramirez is able to get a better understanding of sustaining life on other planets and solar systems.

“The intersection between my work and biology is that ultimately I care about finding life on other planets. And if it’s not there, then we should become the life on that planet,â€� he says. “In our own solar system, if Mars is not habitable today or never did have life, we can change that.â€�

Here are five things Ramirez and other researchers are looking at when it comes to space settlement:

1. Bringing Water Back to Mars

To understand how to inhabit places like Mars, Ramirez’s research looks back at the history of the planet. As part of his terraforming work, his studies focus on Mars’ paleoclimate, giving insight into what the planet looked like centuries before. Based on his research, Mars is potentially interesting for sustaining human life because it was once habitable, Ramirez says.

Based on geologic evidence Ramirez has studied, Mars was once an Earthlike planet with features reminiscent of rivers and valleys on the surface, which are suggestive of water activity. To bring back the water once believed to be in those channels, an atmosphere to sustain liquid water on the surface and have it carve out features that we see would be needed.

“The question is, does [Mars] still have enough of those resources that it once had?â€� he says. “Do those resources still exist in some form today? And if they don’t exist, then how can we make up the gaps so that it can reclaim its former glory? So from my perspective, that’s what makes Mars interesting in terms of a potential second home for humans and for life here on Earth.â€�

2. Warming Mars with Nanorods

For humans to live on a planet, the surface needs to be warm enough for human survival, which is between 31 degrees Fahrenheit to 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

To explore this potential on Mars, Ramirez’s terraforming study involves accumulating Martian soil into a machine and processing it into cylindrical nanorods that are smaller than glitter. These nanorods would be sprayed into the lower atmosphere like a fountain, interact with solar radiation and trap heat near the surface. This concept would warm parts of Mars to about 30 degrees Fahrenheit, making it slightly more capable of growing plants and producing breathable air.

The study also found that the proposed nanorods are about 5,000 times more effective at warming Mars than previously considered approaches. Terraforming Mars through nanoparticles engineered from the Martian soil greatly reduces terraforming costs and eliminates the need to deliver many resources to Mars, Ramirez says.

The technology could also be used on other planets that would need their environments altered for humans. Depending on the planet, Ramirez says it could be carbon dioxide, water vapor or other sorts of gases that could be launched into the atmosphere to warm the planet.

“It can host at least Earth-type life, or at least conditions that are warm enough with high enough pressures and low enough toxicity to survive on a world like Mars,� he says.

3. Developing Potential Food Sources

There are decades of research on growing crops on Mars, with concepts from growing plants in the Martian regolith to developing greenhouses. Space Resource Technologies, a private company that originated from Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½â€™s Exolith Lab, has created simulated Mars soil that has been used to test plant growth.

While there’s evidence that Mars was once a more habitable world, the extent of which is still unknown. Organics, matter that is key to sustaining life on a planet, have been found on Mars via the Viking, Curiosity and Perseverance missions, providing potential evidence that there could’ve been life, such as plants, on the surface or subsurface.

“Those conditions could have led to life on early Mars. That life would then die and hopefully [be] preserved [as] fossils,â€� Ramirez says. “There’s no evidence for this, but again, where we understand the evidence of organics and water on Mars all point to the possibility that Mars at least had the building blocks, many of the building blocks for life.â€�

4. Solar-Powered Solutions

Solar panels have helped power some of the technology on the Martian surface, such as rovers. Another power source, radioisotope thermal generators, provides electrical power to spacecraft using heat from the natural radioactive decay of plutonium-238.

NASA is also exploring a fission system that could operate continuously when power generation from sunlight is difficult. This would include a design that can provide at least 40 kilowatts of power, enough to continuously power 30 households for 10 years. The compact, lightweight system would be able to provide power to a Mars outpost.

With reliable power sources that have proven to be effective over multiple planetary explorations, Ramirez doesn’t think that will be a major issue on the red planet. Mars has an Earthlike day of 24 hours and 37 minutes, which means it would get a similar amount of sunlight time to that on Earth and allow solar-capturing technology to work like it does on humanity’s home planet. However, on planets that rotate slower and have much longer days, like Venus, there may be more of a challenge to use solar technology.

Researchers have proposed various solar energy options, including using an aircraft with high-temperature solar arrays to harvest solar energy in Venus’ atmosphere and store this energy in rechargeable batteries. An aerial platform would then descend below the cloud deck to transfer this energy via laser power beaming to a lander on the Venusian surface. The surface lander would include a laser power converter for receiving the beamed energy, converting it to electrical power, and transferring it to the lander’s rechargeable batteries.

5. Settling in Venus’ Atmosphere

Although Venus’ highly pressurized surface is 90 times what we experience here on Earth — and its thick atmosphere makes living on the planet unfeasible — 31 miles above the surface lies an Earthlike environment that interests space settlers looking to someday explore the planet. Venus is closer to Earth than Mars (1.12 astronomical units to 1.69 astronomical units) with shorter launch windows, making travel easier. The thick atmosphere also absorbs ultraviolet radiation better than Mars, and the study of Venus’ may help researchers further understand the future of Earth’s climate due to their similar compositions.

Ramirez says researchers are proposing creating spacecraft that could settle in the Venusian atmosphere. Concepts include designing space vehicles that can fly above the cloud tops of Venus, avoiding the high amounts of sulfuric acid the Venusian clouds contain. Ramirez says being able to mine Venus’ surface for elements like iron and aluminum would be difficult due to the pressure. However, researchers have looked at extracting carbon dioxide from the air and converting it to oxygen in terraforming efforts.

Researchers would need to find a way to cope with the corrosive acid in the atmosphere and make it safe for aircraft in the Venusian atmosphere so that if something happens, the astronauts there would be safe, Ramirez says.

As part of Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½â€™s research and efforts to help advance space settlement, Ramirez is looking forward to further studies into what will be needed for humanity to live outside of Earth.

“I am excited to help pioneer Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½’s efforts to send humans to other planets. I think we have the resources and capital at this university to make big dreams like this a reality,â€� he says. “I am always trying to improve the way we think about how humans can settle other planets. My ongoing work in trying to understand what makes planets habitable gives me a unique perspective on how we, as humankind, can do the same on other worlds.â€�

Using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), scientists analyzed far-away bodies — known as Trans-Neptunian Objects (TNOs) — and found varying traces of methanol. The discoveries are helping them better classify different TNOs and understand the complex chemical reactions in space that may relate to the formation of our solar system and the origin of life.

The findings, recently published in by the American Astronomical Society, reveal two distinct groups of TNOs with surface ice methanol presence: one with a depleted amount of surface methanol and a large reservoir beneath the surface, and another — furthest from the Sun — with an overall weaker methanol presence. The study suggests that cosmic irradiation over billions of years may have played a role in the first group’s varying methanol distribution, while raising new questions about the second group’s muted signatures.

Reaching Back in Time and Space

TNOs are important to our understanding of our solar system’s origins because they are incredibly well-preserved remnants of the protoplanetary disk — or disk of gas and dust surrounding a young star such as the Sun — and can give scientists a thorough glimpse into the past.

Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ Department of Physics Research Professor Noemí Pinilla-Alonso, who now works at the University of Oviedo in Spain, co-led the research as part of the Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½-led Discovering the Surface Compositions of Trans-Neptunian Objects (DiSCo) program which includes Associate Professor Ana Carolina de Souza-Feliciano.

Pinilla-Alonso says the research helps piece together the history of the solar system’s chemistry and gain insights into exoplanets, where methanol and methane play a crucial role in shaping atmospheres and hinting at the conditions of potentially habitable worlds.

“Methanol, a simple alcohol, has been found on comets and distant TNOs, hinting that it may be a primitive ingredient inherited from the early days of our solar system — or even from interstellar space,� Pinilla-Alonso says. “But methanol is more than just a leftover from the past. When exposed to radiation, it transforms into new compounds, acting as a chemical time capsule that reveals how these icy worlds have evolved over billions of years.�

Methanol ice is a key precursor that may lead to organic molecules such as sugars, and its discovery in TNOs paves the way for so much more, she says.

These spectral differences reveal that not all TNOs formed from the same molecular ingredients, Pinilla-Alonso says. Instead, their compositions reflect their origins — where and how they formed — and their transformations over time.

“What excited me the most was realizing that these differences were linked to the behavior of methanol — a key ingredient that had long been elusive on TNOs from earth-based observations,� she says. “Our findings suggest that methanol is being destroyed on the surface of TNOs by irradiation, but remains more abundant in the subsurface, protected from this exposure.�

Pinilla-Alonso worked alongside Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ FSI researchers, including de Souza-Feliciano, who synthesized the laboratory data with modeling to better explain the behavior of methanol.

De Souza-Feliciano helped to better visualize the findings by reproducing some of the spectral features the scientists were seeing and could provide mathematical support for the data in the study.

“One of the biggest surprises came from the methanol behavior,� de Souza-Feliciano says. “From laboratory data, its signatures at shorter wavelengths differ from the fundamental ones in longer wavelengths.�

De Souza-Feliciano collaborated on prior DiSCo research projects using JWST that characterized binary objects and other distant TNOs.

“The main DiSCo paper addressed the main characteristics of the three groups of TNOs,� she says. “This paper goes into detail about one of them, known as the cliff group, which is the nickname for the spectral group where the reflectance did not increase after approximately 3.3 microns.�

Not only are these cliff group TNOs time capsules for our solar system, but the group houses cold-classical TNOs which have largely stayed in place since their formation, de Souza-Feliciano says.

“One of the reasons why this group is a key for the outer solar system understanding is [because] it contains all the cold-classical TNOs,� she says. “The cold-classical TNOs are the only dynamic group that probably stayed in the place where they formed from the formation of the solar system to today.�

International Collaboration

Rosario Brunetto, an astronomer at the Université Paris-Saclay, led the research with fellow scientists Elsa Hénault and Sasha Cryan.

He says he believes this collaborative discovery will provide foundational knowledge of our solar system and ignite interest in planetary science.

“This discovery not only reshapes our understanding of TNOs but also provides a crucial reference for interpreting JWST’s observations of other distant objects, such as Neptune Trojans, Centaurs and asteroids, as well as for future missions exploring the outer solar system,� Brunetto says. “Beyond its scientific significance, the search for methanol in the solar system also fuels curiosity and inspires new generations to explore the cosmos and understand the chemical evolutions in space.�

Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ FSI Assistant Scientist Charles Schambeau and Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ physics graduate student Brittany Harvison also contributed to the research.

The findings were made possible through an international collaboration with researchers from Northern Arizona University, the Laboratoire de Géologie de Lyon in France, NASA’s Space Telescope Science Institute, the Max-Planck-Institut für extraterrestrische Physik in Germany, the Lowell Observatory, the Universidade de Coimbra in Portugal, INAF-Osservatorio Astrofisico di Catania in Italy, the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias in Spain, the Universidad de La Laguna in Spain, Fundación Galileo Galilei-INAF in Spain and Observatório Nacional do Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.

Researchers’ Credentials:

De Souza-Feliciano is an associate professor at FSI. She received a doctoral degree in astronomy from Observatório Nacional de Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Her main scientific interest is the characterization of the surface properties of small bodies in the solar system through an observational perspective. She’s been deeply involved in the study of the surface composition of TNOS to better understand the variety of the entire population using both ground-based and space-based facilities. Because of this, de Souza-Felicano is involved in several projects using the JWST.

Pinilla-Alonso is a former FSI professor who joined Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ in 2015. Most of her work on this project was conducted while she was at Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½. Pinilla-Alonso also holds a joint appointment as a research professor in Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½â€™s , and has led numerous international observational campaigns supporting NASA missions such as New Horizons, OSIRIS-REx and Lucy. Pinilla-Alonso is a distinguished researcher at the Institute for Space Sciences and Technologies in Asturias, within the Universidad de Oviedo. She received a doctoral degree in astrophysics and planetary sciences from the Universidad de La Laguna in Spain.

Over a 10-Earth-day period, the multi-instrument payload built by BAE Systems and Arizona State University (ASU) will gather data on the lunar regolith to understand how it may be used as a resource in future exploration of the lunar surface.

Firefly Aerospace is one of the American vendors NASA is partnering with to deliver payloads to the lunar surface through the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative. These companies are eligible to bid on NASA contracts, allowing for swift delivery and advanced scientific research and exploration.

“The CLPS initiative carries out U.S. scientific and technical studies on the surface of the Moon by robot explorers,� said Joel Kearns, deputy associate administrator for exploration and lead of NASA’s Exploration Science Strategy and Integration Office in a . “As NASA prepares for future human exploration of the Moon, the CLPS initiative continues to support a growing lunar economy with American companies. Understanding the formation of the Gruithuisen Domes, as well as the ancient lava flows surrounding the landing site, will help the U.S. answer important questions about the lunar surface.�

Firefly was awarded its fourth task order worth $179 million to deliver six experiments, including Lunar-VISE, to the Gruithuisen Domes on the near side of the Moon in 2028.

Similar silicic volcanic domes on Earth are formed due to properties not observed on the Moon, including plate tectonics and oceans, leaving lunar scientists puzzled on how these mysterious domes formed. The Lunar-VISE science team will take what is learned at the Gruithuisen Domes and what is already known from other silicic volcanic spots on the Moon to reconstruct the history of its evolution and volcanism.

“We are beginning to have actual hardware and are building our instruments, and now we know how we will get them deployed on the lunar surface and what our rover will look like,� says Lunar-VISE’s co-investigator Jessica Sunshine, a professor of astronomy and geology at the University of Maryland. “What started as a concept and then figures in a proposal is now amazingly really happening. While the project has a lot of work to do, particularly as we integrate with Firefly, this marks a new exciting phase that gets us tantalizingly close to going from paper to the Moon.�

In the upcoming year, the Lunar-VISE team anticipates the final check, or the System Integration and Acceptance Reviews (SIR), in August to ensure all components are suitable  and safe for intended operations.

“I’m very proud of our Lunar-VISE team in developing, building, and testing our payload instruments and getting us ready for integration onto Firefly’s Ghost lunar lander and rover,â€� says Principal Investigator Kerri Donaldson Hanna, an associate professor in Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½â€™s Department of Physics. “The Lunar-VISE team is excited to work with Firefly to plan our science and exploration operations at the Gruithuisen Domes in 2028.â€�

The findings, published today in , reveal the distribution of ices in the early solar system and how TNOs evolve when they travel inward into the region of the giant planets between Jupiter and Saturn, becoming centaurs.

TNOs are small bodies, or ‘planetesimals,’ orbiting the sun beyond Pluto. They never accreted into planets, and serve as pristine time capsules, preserving crucial evidence of the molecular processes and planetary migrations that shaped the solar system billions of years ago. These solar system objects are like icy asteroids and have orbits comparable to or larger than Neptune’s orbit.

Prior to the new Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½-led study, TNOs were known to be a diverse population based on their orbital properties and surface colors, but the molecular composition of these objects remained poorly understood. For decades, this lack of detailed knowledge hindered interpretation of their color and dynamical diversity. Now, the new results unlock the long-standing question of the interpretation of color diversity by providing compositional information.

“With this new research, a more-complete picture of the diversity is presented and the pieces of the puzzle are starting to come together,� says Noemí Pinilla-Alonso, the study’s lead author.

“For the very first time, we have identified the specific molecules responsible for the remarkable diversity of spectra, colors and albedo observed in trans-Neptunian objects,� Pinilla-Alonso says. “These molecules — like water ice, carbon dioxide, methanol and complex organics — give us a direct connection between the spectral features of TNOs and their chemical compositions.�

Using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), the researchers found that TNOs can be categorized into three distinct compositional groups, shaped by ice retention lines that existed in the era when the solar system formed billions of years ago.

These lines are identified as regions where temperatures were cold enough for specific ices to form and survive within the protoplanetary disk. These regions, defined by their distance from the sun, mark key points in the early solar system’s temperature gradient and offer a direct link between the formation conditions of planetesimals and their present-day compositions.

Rosario Brunetto, the paper’s second author and a Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique researcher at the Institute d’Astrophysique Spatiale (Université Paris-Saclay), says the results are the first clear connection between formation of planetesimals in the protoplanetary disk and their later evolution. The work sheds light on how today’s observed spectral and dynamical distributions emerged in a planetary system that’s shaped by complex dynamical evolution, he says.

“The compositional groups of TNOs are not evenly distributed among objects with similar orbits,� Brunetto says. “For instance, cold classicals, which formed in the outermost regions of the protoplanetary disk, belong exclusively to a class dominated by methanol and complex organics. In contrast, TNOs on orbits linked to the Oort cloud, which originated closer to the giant planets, are all part of the spectral group characterized by water ice and silicates.�

Brittany Harvison, a Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ physics doctoral student who worked on the project while studying under Pinilla-Alonso, says the three groups defined by their surface compositions exhibit qualities hinting at the protoplanetary disk’s compositional structure.

“This supports our understanding of the available material that helped form outer solar system bodies such as the gas giants and their moons or Pluto and the other inhabitants of the trans-Neptunian region,� she says.

In a , the researchers found unique spectral signatures, different from TNOs, that reveal the presence of dusty regolith mantles on their surfaces.

This finding about centaurs, which are TNOs that have shifted their orbits into the region of the giant planets after a close gravitational encounter with Neptune, helps illuminate how TNOs become centaurs as they warm up when getting closer to the sun and sometimes develop comet-like tails.

Their work revealed that all observed centaur surfaces showed special characteristics when compared with the surfaces of TNOs, suggesting modifications occurred as a consequence of their journey into the inner solar system.

Among the three classes of TNO surface types, two — Bowl and Cliff — were observed in the centaur population, both of which are poor in volatile ices, Pinilla-Alonso says.

However, in centaurs, these surfaces show a distinguishing feature: they are covered by a layer of dusty regolith intermixed with the ice, she says.

“Intriguingly, we identify a new surface class, nonexistent among TNOs, resembling ice poor surfaces in the inner solar system, cometary nuclei and active asteroids,� she says.

Javier Licandro, senior researcher at the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias (IAC, Tenerife, Spain) and lead author of the centaur’s work says the spectral diversity observed in centaurs is broader than expected, suggesting that existing models of their thermal and chemical evolution may need refinement.

For instance, the variety of organic signatures and the degree of irradiation effects observed were not fully anticipated, Licandro says.

“The diversity detected in the centaurs populations in terms of water, dust, and complex organics suggests varied origins in the TNO population and different evolutionary stages, highlighting that centaurs are not a homogenous group but rather dynamic and transitional objects� Licandro says. “The effects of thermal evolution observed in the surface composition of centaurs are key to establishing the relationship between TNOs and other small bodies populations, such as the irregular satellites of the giant planets and their Trojan asteroids.�

Study co-author Charles Schambeau, a planetary scientist with Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½â€™s (FSI) who specializes in studying centaurs and comets, emphasized the importance of the observations and that some centaurs can be classified into the same categories as the DiSCo-observed TNOs.

“This is pretty profound because when a TNO transitions into a centaur, it experiences a warmer environment where surface ices and materials are changed,â€� Schambeau says. “Apparently, though, in some cases the surface changes are minimal, allowing individual centaurs to be linked to their parent TNO population. The TNO versus centaur spectral types are different, but similar enough to be linked.”

How the Research Was Performed

The studies are part of the Discovering the Surface Composition of the trans-Neptunian Objects, (DiSCo) project, led by Pinilla-Alonso, to uncover the molecular composition of TNOs. Pinilla-Alonso is now a distinguished professor with the Institute of Space Science and Technology in Asturias at the Universidad de Oviedo and performed the work as a planetary scientist with FSI.

For the studies, the researchers used the JWST, launched almost three years ago, that provided unprecedented views of the molecular diversity of the surfaces of the TNOs and centaurs through near-infrared observations, overcoming the limitations of terrestrial observations and other available instruments.

For the TNOs study, the researchers measured the spectra of 54 TNOs using the JWST, capturing detailed light patterns of these objects. By analyzing these high-sensitivity spectra, the researchers could identify specific molecules on their surface. Using clustering techniques, the TNOs were categorized into three distinct groups based on their surface compositions. The groups were nicknamed “Bowl,” “Double-dip” and “Cliff” due to the shapes of their light absorption patterns.

They found that:

• Bowl-type TNOs made up 25% of the sample and were characterized by strong water ice absorptions and a dusty surface. They showed clear signs of crystalline water ice and had low reflectivity, indicating the presence of dark, refractory materials.
• Double-dip TNOs accounted for 43% of the sample and showed strong carbon dioxide (CO2) bands and some signs of complex organics.
• Cliff-type TNOs made up 32% of the sample and had strong signs of complex organics, methanol, and nitrogen-bearing molecules, and were the reddest in color.

For the centaurs study, the researchers observed and analyzed the reflectance spectra of five centaurs (52872 Okyrhoe, 3253226 Thereus, 136204, 250112 and 310071). This allowed them to identify the surface compositions of the centaurs, revealing considerable diversity among the observed sample.

They found that Thereus and 2003 WL7 belong to the Bowl-type, while 2002 KY14 belongs to the Cliff-type. The remaining two centaurs, Okyrhoe and 2010 KR59, did not fit into any existing spectral classes and were categorized as “Shallow-type” due to their unique spectra. This newly defined group is characterized by a high concentration of primitive, comet-like dust and little to no volatile ices.

Previous Research and Next Steps

Pinilla-Alonso says that previous DiSCo research revealed the presence of carbon oxides widespread on the surfaces of TNOs, which was a significant discovery.

“Now, we build on that finding by offering a more comprehensive understanding of TNO surfaces� she says. “One of the big realizations is that water ice, previously thought to be the most abundant surface ice, is not as prevalent as we once assumed. Instead, carbon dioxide (CO₂) — a gas at Earth’s temperature — and other carbon oxides, such as the super volatile carbon monoxide (CO), are found in a larger number of bodies.�

The new study’s findings are only the beginning, Harvison says.

“Now that we have general information about the identified compositional groups, we have much more to explore and discover,� she says. “As a community, we can start exploring the specifics of what produced the groups as we see them today.�

The research was supported by NASA through a grant from the Space Telescope Science Institute.

The TNOs study authors also included Mario De Prá with FSI, Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½; Bryan Holler with Space Telescope Science Institute; Elsa Hénault with Université Paris-Saclay; Ana Carolina de Souza Feliciano with Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½; Vania Lorenzi with Fundacion Galileo Galilei – INAF; Yvonne Pendleton with Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½; Dale Cruikshank with Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½; Thomas Müller with Max-Planck-Institut für extraterrestrische Physik; John Stansberry with Space Telescope Science Institute; Joshua Emery with Northern Arizona University; Lucas McClure with Northern Arizona University; Aurélie Guilbert-Lepoutre with Laboratoire de Géologie de Lyon: Terre, Planètes, Environnement; Nuno Peixinho with Instituto de AstrofıÌ�sica e Ciências do Espaço, Departamento de FıÌ�sica, Universidade de Coimbra; Michele Bannister with University of Canterbury; and Ian Wong with the Space Telescope Science Institute.

The centaurs study authors also included Bryan Holler with Space Telescope Science Institute; Mário N. De Prá with FSI, Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½; Mario Melita with Instituto de Astronomía y Física del Espacio (UBA-CONICET), Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas (UNLP), Instituto de Tecnología e Ingeniería (UNAHUR); Ana Carolina de Souza Feliciano with FSI, Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½; Rosario Brunetto with Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS, Institut d’Astrophysique Spatiale; Aurélie Guilbert-Lepoutre with Laboratoire de Géologie de Lyon: Terre, Planètes, Environnement, UMR5276 CNRS, UCBL, ENSL; Elsa Hénault with Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS, Institut d’Astrophysique Spatiale; Vania Lorenzi with Fundación Galileo Galilei-INAF, Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC); John A. Stansberry with Space Telescope Science Institute, Northern Arizona University, Lowell Observatory; Brittany Harvison with FSI, Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½; Yvonne J. Pendleton with Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½, Department of Physics; Dale P. Cruikshank with Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½, Department of Physics; Thomas Müller with Max-Planck-Institut für extraterrestrische Physik; Lucas McClure with Northern Arizona University; Joshua P. Emery with Northern Arizona University; Nuno Peixinho with Instituto de Astrofísica e Ciências do Espaço, Departamento de Física, Universidade de Coimbra; Michele T. Bannister with University of Canterbury, School of Physical and Chemical Sciences – Te Kura MatÅ«; Ian Wong with NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, American University.