Summer Program In Astrophysics 2025:
Cool Frontiers: Exploring Dust and Ice in the Cosmos
University of Virginia, Charlottesville
June 23rd - August 1st, 2025
Cosmic dust and ice, nano-to-mm sized solid particles, is ubiquitous and plays a critical role in the formation and evolution of planets, stars, and galaxies. On a cosmological scale, it reprocesses a significant fraction of all gravitational and nuclear energy released throughout cosmic history into infrared (IR) radiation, generating the cosmic IR background. Dust grains profoundly affect the evolution and spectral appearance of galaxies by absorbing and scattering starlight, producing interstellar polarization, and depleting refractory elements from the interstellar medium (ISM). Integral to star formation, dust cools the ISM, enabling gas to collapse into stars and shielding it from ultraviolet radiation that can inhibit this process. It acts as a catalyst for the formation of molecular hydrogen, essential for further cooling and star formation. Ice, typically in the form of icy mantles on dust grains, also plays a vital role in the chemistry of the ISM, serving as a medium for the formation of complex organic molecules, some of which are precursors to life. In planet formation, the structure and thermodynamics of protoplanetary disks are influenced by both dust and ice - they form the building blocks for planetesimals, which then merge to create planets, and they drive the chemistry of disks, conveying important elements and compounds such as silicates, hydrocarbons, and water, which contribute to the chemical diversity of planets and their atmospheres.
Despite their significance, however, many questions about the properties, origin, and evolution of dust and ice remain; for example: What are the precise physical and chemical processes governing their formation and destruction in different astrophysical environments? How does the abundance, composition and dust grain size evolve from its formation around stars to its incorporation into the interstellar medium (ISM) and subsequent recycling into new stars and planets? What role does dust play in the formation and evolution of galaxies, particularly in terms of star formation and feedback processes? How do the properties of dust and ice differ in extreme environments, from planetary atmospheres to galactic nuclei and high-redshift galaxies? Observations, for example with ALMA and now JWST, are providing unprecedented spatially and spectrally resolved views of dust and ice in these different contexts (e.g., AGB stars and supernova remnants, protoplanetary disks, and high-redshift galaxies). At the same time, theoretical models on all scales are incorporating self-consistent, detailed treatments of physical and chemical processes related to the formation and evolution of dust and ice (e.g., nucleation, condensation, shocks, radiation). We aim to take advantage of this pivotal moment, bringing together observers and theorists from astrochemistry, stellar and planetary astrophysics, galaxy evolution and cosmology, to address these fundamental and longstanding questions, and ultimately to advance our understanding of dust and ice in the cosmos.
To apply to the program as a student or senior participant (postdoc or faculty) please use our online application forms.
- Scientific Organizing Committee
- Principal Lecturers
- Local Organizing Committee
- Confirmed long-term participants
- Program Sponsors
Lecturers
Brandon Hensley is a scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. Brandon is a data-driven theorist working on interstellar dust, including its physical nature and its use as a tool to study the interstellar medium of the Milky Way and other galaxies.
Susanne Höfner is a Professor of Theoretical Astrophysics at Uppsala University, Sweden. Susanne's research is focused on evolved stars, in particular dynamical processes such as pulsation and stellar winds, and the formation of stardust. She develops advanced radiation-hydrodynamical models and compares the results to observations.
Andrew Youdin is a Professor at the University of Arizona, in Astronomy and Planetary Sciences. Andrew studies planet formation and disk dynamics with theoretical and numerical models. Areas of interest include planetesimal formation, disk turbulence, hot Jupiters, Kuiper Belt objects and exoplanet demographics.
Scientific Organizing Committee
- Shazrene Mohamed (UVA, program director)
- Ilse Cleeves (UVA)
- Rob Garrod (UVA)
- Paul Torrey (UVA)
- Yifan Zhou (UVA)
- Diana Powell (U. Chicago)
- Arka Sarangi (Indian Institute of Astrophysics)
Program LOC
- Summer Program UVA LOC contact: gnf2aa@virginia.edu and shazrene@virginia.edu
- For general questions about the program, please contact Pascale Garaud (pgaraud at ucsc dot edu)
Program Supported By
The National Science Foundation
The Center for Global Inquiry and Innovation at the University of Virginia.