The contribution of a physicist from Gdańsk Tech to space research | Gdańsk University of Technology

In the region between the stars that make up galaxies, i.e. in interstellar space, over 300 chemical compounds have been identified so far. Scientists from around the world are investigating how these compounds form and how they survive in extreme conditions such as very low temperatures, vacuum, and ionising radiation.

The research conducted by Natalia Tańska-Witczak, PhD, Eng., currently an assistant professor at the Institute of Physics and Applied Computer Science within the Faculty of Applied Physics and Mathematics at Gdańsk Tech, aimed to analyse the efficiency of electron scattering in selected compounds of astrochemical and astrobiological significance.

– There are free electrons in space originating from various sources. These cause molecules to break down, allowing their smaller components to combine with other molecules to form complex compounds, including precursor molecules important for prebiotic chemistry – explained the researcher.

Measurements of oxygen-containing compounds

In her research, Dr Tańska-Witczak focused on measurements of three oxygen-containing hydrocarbon derivatives: methyl formate, acetic acid and propionaldehyde.

– Using experimental and computational techniques, I have determined and analysed the cross sections for electron scattering in the low-energy range for these molecules, and described some resonance states that arise during collisions and can cause molecular fragmentation, and consequently may impact the efficiency of reactions occurring in space – she said.

The first data of its kind in the literature

The results of measurements of the absolute scattering cross sections for the molecules studied by Dr Tańska-Witczak are the first of this kind to be reported in the literature for these molecules.

– They provide information that could potentially be used in modelling chemical and physical processes in the planetary atmosphere and interstellar space, where low-energy electrons may play a key role in the chemical synthesis of molecules – said the author of the doctoral thesis.

Some of the research findings have already been published in international scientific journals (acetic acid, methyl formate).

The graduate of the Doctoral School at Gdańsk Tech plans to continue her research.

– I would like to focus even more on the very fragmentation of the molecules – she said.

The thesis supervisor was Paweł Możejko, PhD, DSc, Professor at Gdańsk Tech and Dean of the Faculty of Applied Physics and Mathematics (data from research conducted by Prof. Możejko was used, among other things, to determine the glycine content in the coma of Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko).

Spectrometer for a Mars rover

Natalia Tańska-Witczak, PhD, Eng., is a graduate of a Bachelor’s programme in Basics of Technical Sciences and a Master’s programme in Technical Physics at the Faculty of Applied Physics and Mathematics at Gdańsk Tech, as well as the Doctoral School at the Gdańsk University of Technology. During her engineering studies, she worked with Grzegorz Jarantowski, MSc, Eng., on an ED-XRF spectrometer intended for a Mars rover. She is currently conducting research at Gdańsk Tech on the electron interaction with organic molecules.

– The early years of a PhD can be quite frustrating, because you realise just how much you do not know yet and how much ground you have to make up. It teaches you humility. Over time, however, you come to accept that, no matter how hard you try, your knowledge will always be, in a sense, incomplete and limited. The satisfaction, however, is immense, especially when you are working in a good, close-knit team – she emphasised.