Yi-Jehng Kuan

(National Taiwan Normal University)

At an altitude of 5,050 m, ALMA is the largest ground-based astronomical observing facilities existent. Consist of sixty-six 12-m and 7-m antennas, ALMA acts as a single telescope with variable diameters of 150 m to 16 km. ALMA is designed to address some of the most profound questions of our cosmic origins including the origins of life itself.

Are we alone? Our research projects this summer will be based mainly on our ALMA data acquired recently in 2017 – 2020 on the following two topics:

1) Are ocean worlds habitable? By identifying subsurface oceans and measuring the salinity and chlorinity of icy worlds in our Solar System, we will greatly advance our knowledge of habitability (適居性) of these ocean worlds including, perhaps, Saturn’s moon Enceladus, Jupiter’s moon Europa, and the dwarf planet Ceres.

2) Search for prebiotically important complex organic molecules in space. One of the interstellar molecules we look for is pyrimidine, which constitutes the backbone ring structure of the nucleobases U (uracil in RNA), C (cytosine in RNA and DNA) and T (thymine in DNA), hence is the building block of nucleic acid (核酸). Pyrimidine was detected in meteorites and is thus a key molecule for astrobiology. Although formation of prebiotic molecules in extraterrestrial environment and their contributions to the origin of life remain unsettled, the connection between interstellar organic chemistry, meteoritic pyrimidines, and the emergence of life on the early Earth would be strengthened with the discovery of interstellar pyrimidine.

Therefore, we would like to identify up to three talented students who are interested in astrophysical study on the origins of life in the universe. We welcome self-motivated students who can conduct independent research. Please note, academic backgrounds in chemistry or life science are NOT essential.