Firest experiment in electrostatic storage ring for ultra-cold molecules, models space conditions
It is now easier to investigate space chemistry on Earth as well. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics (MPIK) in Heidelberg have conducted initial experiments in a unique electrostatic storage ring for ultra-cold molecules, in which they reproduce the conditions found in space. After spending several years developing and building the storage ring, the physicists now for the first time kept negatively charged molecules - hydroxide ions (OH–) to be precise - on orbit in the ring at only a few degrees above absolute zero and very low pressure, and they have also started to experiment with the particles. The CSR (Cryogenic Storage Ring) now enables them to investigate the chemistry of interstellar clouds in the laboratory and to gain fundamental insights into the 'inner dynamics' of molecules.