After connecting through Boys Scouts of America (soon to be
Scouting America) at the
Foothill College Observatory
during one of their
Friday Evening Public Viewing
events hosted by the Peninsula Astronomical Society (
PAS), Dr. Christiaan Boersma, working with the Astrophysics &
Astrochemistry Laboratory Group and a member of the NASA Ames PAH IR
Spectroscopic Database Team, was invited to provide a PAS public lecture
at the
Public Library of Los Altos. An
engaging audience, some 25 in attendance in-person and 10 remotely,
listened to a one-hour talk on the Astrochemistry behind some of the
spectacular imagery being returned by the James Webb Space Telescope’s
(JWST), with a focus on polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). A
historical overview of the development of the PAH hypothesis and how it
was shaped into a full-fledged model was presented, highlighting Ames'
pivotal and continuing role in astronomical PAH research. Data from the
PDRs4All JWST Early Release Science Program on the Orion Bar and that from
the JWST GO Cycle 1 program titled "Deuterated PAHs, PAH-nitriles, and PAH
Overtone and Combination Bands" formed the high point of the evening.