Pierce part of SEC physics and chemistry collaboration on comet research
Auburn University's Dennis Bodewits receives a cowbell from Mississippi State University's Donna Pierce.
Donna M. Pierce, an associate professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Mississippi State University, is now a member of a joint collaboration with faculty from Auburn University and the University of Mississippi and to conduct research on comets.
Working jointly with Dennis Bodewits, associate professor of physics at Auburn University and Ryan Fortenberry, assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry from the University of Mississippi, the team received the 2019-2020 SEC Faculty Travel Grant, which enables faculty from a SEC institution to travel to another SEC institution for collaboration on topics of mutual interest.
Pierce first visited Auburn in December 2019 and plans to conduct more research there beginning next fall, she said.
“The research examines the properties of small molecular ions in the atmosphere of comets, which are molecules that carry an electric charge,” Pierce said. “The CO+ ion is particularly notable because it makes comet tails glow blue.”
“We’ve known about the existence of ions in the atmospheres of comets for a long time, and the now-completed Rosetta space mission to comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko confirmed the existence of many ions in the comet’s atmosphere,” Pierce said.
Pierce and her colleagues are seeking to learn more about the ways in the ions emit their characteristic radiation signatures -- the “sign” that alerts scientists to a comet’s presence in the atmosphere.
“At this time, a lot of the physical parameters governing the ways these ions emit radiation are unknown, and with this collaboration, leveraging expertise in laboratory astrophysics, emission spectroscopy, and theoretical astrochemistry, we will fill in these critical data gaps,” Pierce said. “With this work, we not only will be able to interpret ion radiation signatures more reliably, but we may also uncover the sources of radiation signatures from comet atmospheres that have been observed but currently remain unidentified.”
Pierce received her B.S. in physics from the University of Kentucky in 1997 and her Ph.D. in astronomy from the University of Maryland in 2006. She has been a faculty member at MSU since 2007.
MSU’s College of Arts and Sciences includes more than 5,200 students, 325 full-time faculty members, nine doctoral programs, 14 master’s programs, and 27 undergraduate academic majors offered in 14 departments. MSU is classified by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education as a “Very High Research Activity” doctoral university, the highest level of research activity in the country. MSU is one of only 120 schools to hold the designation.
For more details about the College of Arts and Sciences or the Department of Physics and Astronomy visit www.cas.msstate.edu or www.physics.msstate.edu.
MSU is Mississippi’s leading university, available online at www.msstate.edu.
John Burrow | College of Arts and Sciences
