Solar System Chemistry
The Planetary Chemistry Laboratory is run by professors Bruce Fegley, Jr. and Katharina Lodders. They specialize in modeling gas and condensation chemistry in the atmospheres of the Earth, terrestrial planets and exoplanets, gas giants and their satellites, and cool stars. Their research activities can be divided into three areas:
- Theoretical models of chemical processes in circumstellar envelopes, the atmospheres of brown dwarfs and extrasolar planets, the early solar system, on planetary surfaces, and in planetary atmospheres. Many of these models involve calculations made with the CONDOR code, a thermochemical equilibrium program developed by Lodders.
- Experimental studies of important chemical reactions in the solar nebula, in planetary atmospheres, and between planetary atmospheres and surfaces.
- Involvement with spacecraft missions
