1. David E. Woon & Benjamin J. McCall
Astrochemistry Lecture and Laboratory Courses at the University of Illinois:
Applied Spectroscopy
David E. Woon & Benjamin J. McCall
RH11

2. From the UIUC Course Catalog
CHEM/ASTR 450   Astrochemistry
Covers the foundations of astrochemistry, a young field at the intersection between chemistry and astronomy. Topics to be discussed include the interstellar medium, atomic and molecular physics, interstellar chemistry, molecular astronomy, and unresolved enigmas in the field.
CHEM/ASTR 451   Astrochemistry Laboratory
An active, hands-on introduction to observational astrochemistry, laboratory astrochemistry and theoretical astrochemistry. Activities will include astronomical observations of interstellar molecules at the Observatory, spectroscopy of molecules in the laboratory, quantum chemical calculations and simulations of molecular spectra, and modeling of interstellar chemistry.

3. History
Ben created the two courses and taught them for the first time in Fall 2008 and Spring Development of Chem 450 was supported by NSF CAREER/PECASE Grant CHE
Construction of the lab set-up for Chem 451 was supported by an NSF grant from the Course Curriculum and Laboratory Improvement (CCLI) program from DUE (Grant ), which in turn built on Cottrell Scholar Award from the Research Corporation.
“Open Your Eyes to the Skies: An Innovative and Interdisciplinary Astronomy/Astrochemistry Teaching Laboratory” (Leslie Looney, Ben McCall, & Nick Glumac)
450: third astrochem lecture; 451: first astrochem lab

4. History
Ben created the two courses and taught them for the first time in Fall 2008 and Spring Development of Chem 450 was supported by NSF CAREER/PECASE Grant CHE
Construction of the lab set-up for Chem 451 was supported by an NSF grant from the Course Curriculum and Laboratory Improvement (CCLI) program from DUE (Grant ), which in turn built on Cottrell Scholar Award from the Research Corporation.
“Open Your Eyes to the Skies: An Innovative and Interdisciplinary Astronomy/Astrochemistry Teaching Laboratory” (Leslie Looney, Ben McCall, & Nick Glumac)
I taught Chem 451 in Spring 2014 and Chem 450 in Fall 2015.

5. Spectroscopic Content
The study of astrochemistry presents an excellent opportunity to highlight the usefulness of spectroscopy for understanding how we know what molecules exist and what they’re doing in exotic astrophysical environments, mostly interstellar clouds but also planetary atmospheres, comets, and stellar atmos-pheres.
In particular, the students see the energetic regimes where different types of molecular spectroscopy are relevant, as well as how useful they are for distinguishing one molecule from another.

6. Difficulty Warning
In both courses, students are warned that the material is not easy and involves a lot of math…
Let’s look at each course in sequence.

7. Orientation: Basic Astronomy, Resources, Ground Rules
Chem/Astr 450
Astrochemistry
FALL 2015
25 Aug 2015
Orientation: Basic Astronomy, Resources, Ground Rules

8. Chem/Astr 450 – Astrochemistry Lecture
The course grade was divided into homework sets and a semester-long project on a specific astromolecule.
11 students completed the course in Fall 2015 (9 undergrads & 2 grad students; all from the Chem side). The molecules they studied were:
CN CS C2S
OH N2H+ CO+
NH3 C2H SiS
H2CO C3O
Each student built up a wiki entry on their molecule during the semester, which served as the template for an oral presentation and a term paper due at the end of the semester.

9. Chem/Astr 450 – Astrochemistry Lecture
The course grade was divided into homework sets and a semester-long project on a specific astromolecule.
11 students completed the course in Fall 2015 (9 undergrads & 2 grad students; all from the Chem side). The molecules they studied were:
CN CS C2S
OH N2H+ CO+
NH3 C2H SiS
H2CO C3O
Jacob McAlpin
Each student built up a wiki entry on their molecule during the semester, which served as the template for an oral presentation and a term paper due at the end of the semester.

10. Astronomy/Astrophysics
Lectures
Orientation: Basic Astronomy, Resources, Ground Rules
Light & Stars
The Interstellar Medium
Astronomy/Astrophysics

11. Astronomy/Astrophysics
Lectures
Orientation: Basic Astronomy, Resources, Ground Rules
Light & Stars
The Interstellar Medium
Interaction of Radiation with Matter (2)
Atomic Spectroscopy
Molecular Spectroscopy (Diatomics)
Molecular Spectroscopy (Polyatomics) (2)
Molecular Excitation (2)
Astronomy/Astrophysics
Spectroscopy

12. Astronomy/Astrophysics
Lectures
Orientation: Basic Astronomy, Resources, Ground Rules
Light & Stars
The Interstellar Medium
Interaction of Radiation with Matter (2)
Atomic Spectroscopy
Molecular Spectroscopy (Diatomics)
Molecular Spectroscopy (Polyatomics) (2)
Molecular Excitation (2)
Interstellar Chemistry (3)
Kinetic Modeling of Gas-Phase Chemistry
Chemical Routes in Diffuse & Dense Molecular Clouds and Disks
Miscellaneous Chemistry
Astronomy/Astrophysics
Spectroscopy
Chemistry

13. Astronomy/Astrophysics
Lectures
Orientation: Basic Astronomy, Resources, Ground Rules
Light & Stars
The Interstellar Medium
Interaction of Radiation with Matter (2)
Atomic Spectroscopy
Molecular Spectroscopy (Diatomics)
Molecular Spectroscopy (Polyatomics) (2)
Molecular Excitation (2)
Interstellar Chemistry (3)
Kinetic Modeling of Gas-Phase Chemistry
Chemical Routes in Diffuse & Dense Molecular Clouds and Disks
Miscellaneous Chemistry
Astronomical Molecular Spectroscopy: Optical Astronomy
Astronomical Molecular Spectroscopy: Radio Astronomy
Astronomical Molecular Spectroscopy: Interferometry
Spectroscopy as a Tool for Astrophysics
Astronomy/Astrophysics
Spectroscopy
Chemistry

14. Spectroscopic Topics Covered in Lectures
Einstein coefficients
Transition dipole moments
Radiative transfer
Oscillator strength
Optical depth
Line widths/broadening
Column density
Term symbols
Electronic spectra
Vibrational spectra
Rotational spectra
Rovibrational spectra
Rovibronic spectra
Selection rules
Line shapes
Fine & hyperfine structure
Cosmic rays
Auger processes
Potential energy curves
Wigner-Wittmer rules
Franck-Condon principle
Dipole moments
Isotope effects
Point groups
Using PGOPHER
Collisional excitation/deexcitation
Photon pumping
Formation pumping
Recombination
n-level system solutions
Spectrographs
Diffraction gratings/eschelles

15. Homework Problems and the Students’ Wikis
Questions spread through the homework sets led the students through the steps of writing the wiki entries for their molecules.

16. Homework Problems and the Students’ Wikis
Set 1: Find your astromolecule in the list at the Astrochymist. Initialize the wiki page for your molecule and add a section for the “First Detection.” Include the citation(s) and upload the pdf file(s) for the initial detection(s) as a link.

17. Homework Problems and the Students’ Wikis
Set 3: Use ADS or another citation finder to track down subsequent astronomical studies of your astromolecule and add a new subject, “Further Detections,” to your wiki page. Cite 3-5 of the subsequent studies, describe their findings, and explain their importance to the overall story of your astromolecule.

18. Homework Problems and the Students’ Wikis
Set 7: This week, you will generate the pure rotational spectrum for your molecule and add it to your wiki page in a section labeled “Spectroscopic Properties and Spectrum.”

19. Homework Problems and the Students’ Wikis
Set 7: This week, you will generate the pure rotational spectrum for your molecule and add it to your wiki page in a section labeled “Spectroscopic Properties and Spectrum.”

20. Homework Problems and the Students’ Wikis
Set 7: This week, you will generate the pure rotational spectrum for your molecule and add it to your wiki page in a section labeled “Spectroscopic Properties and Spectrum.”

21. Homework Problems and the Students’ Wikis
Set 9: Use the KIDA database to identify the most important forma-tion and destruction reactions in the “Reaction Network” for your molecule in a dark cloud such as TMC-1.

22. Homework Problems and the Students’ Wikis
Set 9: Use the KIDA database to identify the most important forma-tion and destruction reactions in the “Reaction Network” for your molecule in a dark cloud such as TMC-1.

23. Homework Problems and the Students’ Wikis
Set 9: Use the KIDA database to identify the most important forma-tion and destruction reactions in the “Reaction Network” for your molecule in a dark cloud such as TMC-1.

24. Homework Problems and the Students’ Wikis
Set 10: Add a “Summary” section to your wiki page that describes your sense of whether the detection of your molecule can be considered robust and how significant it is that your molecule has been detected.

25. Astrochemistry Laboratory Methylidyne Radical (CH)
Chem/Astr 451 A/B
Astrochemistry Laboratory
Spring 2014
Methylidyne Radical (CH)
in the Cosmos

26. Chem/Astr 451 – Astrochemistry Laboratory
3 credit (A) and 4 credit (B) sections were offered.
Chem/Astr 450 was supposed to be a prerequisite, but this was not enforced. Enrollment in section B included three students (1 undergrad, 2 grad students) who had taken 450. Enrollment in section A consisted of 6 undergrads who had not taken 450.

27. with the university’s historic 12” refracting telescope
Overview of the Course
observe CH
with the university’s historic 12” refracting telescope
PRIMARY OBJECTIVE
OF THE COURSE
study CH
literature, chemical modeling, quantum chemistry
characterize CH
with a student-built spectrograph
report
background, methodologies,
laboratory results, astronomical observations
techniques
data reduction, spectral modeling
Labs 1-4
Labs 5-6
Lab 7
Lab 8 (A)
Paper (B)
6 weeks
4 weeks
3 weeks
~1-2 weeks
individually
in groups of 2-3

28. A Demanding Course
As with 450, I stressed from the beginning that this would not be an easy course. On the theoretical side, they had to learn how to run NAHOON, G09, and IRAF, and they needed to understand LINUX well enough to do so.
The spectrograph needed to be aligned and calibrated with standards before it could be used to characterize CH. One of Ben’s students, Brad Gibson, served as course TA and helped the students set up and use the spectrograph.

29. The Observatory 12” f/15 Brashear refractor
Assembled in Nov 1896 ($15K)
Refurbished in 2013

30. The Spectrograph  aligned with laser  wavelength set with Hg lamp
diffraction grating
mirror
CCD
 aligned with laser
 wavelength set with Hg lamp
 tested on solar spectrum
 butane flame used as source of CH
 table from T. Oka’s lab
fiber optic cable
50 fiber “slit”
reimaging lens
slit

31. Results
Unfortunately, there has been no successful acquisition of CH spectra to date by students or instructors!

32. assumed baseline shown in red*
Venus – corrected and assigned spectrum
assumed baseline shown in red*

33. assumed baseline shown in red
Sirius – corrected and assigned spectrum
assumed baseline shown in red

34. Acknowledgment
Jacob McAlpin graciously allowed me to use his work in class as an example. He used what he learned in Chem 450 as the starting point for his Organic Chemistry Seminar in Spring 2016.