At an altitude of 5,050 m, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) consists of 50 12-m single-dish antennas which acts as a giant telescope with equivalent aperture sizes variable from 150 m to 16 km. ALMA is thus the largest ground-based astronomical observing facilities existent worldwide and is designed to address some of the most profound questions of our cosmic origins including the origins of solar system and life itself.

Are we alone? In this summer, our research project “Search for potential signatures of life on icy solar-system bodies” will be mainly astrobiology oriented, based on ALMA observations conducted in July – August 2021. We will look for potential signatures of life elsewhere in our solar system. By using ALMA to observe icy bodies in our solar system, we will greatly advance our knowledge of habitability (適居性) of these icy worlds such as the Galilean moon Europa, Saturn’s moon Enceladus, and the dwarf planet Ceres. Lately the Dawn Mission to Ceres has provided evidence for surface water ice and a warm, liquid-bearing interior that is rich in volatile organic material. Ceres has thus become an object of intense interest for astrobiology. Observations of water ice and hazes on Ceres by Dawn Mission also point to the existence of an exosphere. To uncover the true nature of Ceres’s exosphere, high angular-resolution ALMA observations were carried out to resolve Ceres spatially so to locate the surface origins of Ceres’s exosphere hence: a) to better understand ice chemistry, b) to identify plume-launching subsurface sites of reservoirs enriched in water ice, and c) to ascertain the viability of Ceres’s cometary origin via accretion or formation at great heliocentric distance.

We’d like to identify up to three talented students who are interested in astronomical study on the origins of life in the universe. We welcome self-motivated students who are not afraid of challenges and can conduct independent research. Please note, academic background in chemistry or life science is NOT required.