Goddard Space Flight Cente r
Astrochemistry Laboratory

Astrochemistry Laboratory


Picture of Ashraf Ali

Ashraf Ali

Astrochemistry Laboratory
NASA/GSFC, Code 691
Greenbelt, MD 20771

Phone: (301) 286-1553

Email: Ashraf Ali

Current Position


    Principal Scientist, Astrochemistry Laboratory

Professional Experience


  • Principal Scientist, Astrochemstry Laboratory, NASA/GSFC
  • Senior Scientist, Astrochemistry Laboratory, NASA/GSFC
  • Research Scientist, Ames Laboratory, Dept. of Energy, Iowa State University, Ames, IA
  • Research Fellow, Arthur Amos Noyes Lab. of Chemical Physics, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA
  • Atmospheric Physicist, Atmospheric Chemistry Branch, NASA/GSFC
  • Research Associate, Department of Chemistry, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD
  • Postdoctoral Fellow, School of Chemical Sciences, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL

Major Research Activities


    Chemistry (Potential Energy Surfaces and Dynamics) of formation of inorganic and organic small solid-state structures from the gas phase species in astrophysical objects, and molecular basis of phase transition. Thermodynamics of small systems of clusters. Experimental elucidation of temperature and structure and phase in gas-phase isolated micro-cluster. Dynamics of energy transfer and atomic and molecular collisions. Chemical non-mass-dependent isotopic fractionation during the formation of grains and surfaces in the early solar system. Application of atomic and molecular beam techniques and high-resolution laser mass spectroscopy in these and related areas.

Selected Publications


1998  "Inorganic Dust Formation in Astrophysical Environments," A full session was devoted to the discussion on current status. Some problems in cosmochemistry. A discussion and responses, A. Ali, in Faraday Discussions (invited): Chemistry and Physics of Molecules and Grains in Space, Organizing Committee: P.J. Sarre, D. Field, S. Leach, I.W.M. Smith, J. Tennyson, and D.A. Williams, The Royal Society of Chemistry, Cambridge, UK, 109, page 372-380.

1991  "A Photelectron-Photoion Coincidence Study of H2O, D2O, and (H2O)2," K. Norwood, A. Ali, and C. Y. Ng, J. Chem. Phys. , 95, 8029.

1990  "A Photelectron-Photoion Coincidence Study of Fe(CO)5, " K. Norwood, A. Ali, G. D. Flesch, and C. Y. Ng, J. Amer. Chem. Soc., 112, 7502.

1989  "Laser Excitation of the Overlapping CN, B - A(8,7) and B - X(8,11) Bands: The Relative Phase and Magnitude of the B - A and B - X Transition Moments," N. Furio, A. Ali, P. J. Dagdigian, and H. J. Werner, J. Mol. Spectroscopy, 134, 199.

1987  "Rotational Energy Transfer Within the B3Πgv=3 Manifold of Molecular Nitrogen," A. Ali and P. J. Dagdigian, J. Chem. Phys., 87, 6915.

1987  "State-Resolved Inelastic Cross-Sections from CN A2Πv=8 to x2Σ+v=12. Quenching of the Even-Odd Alternation in the Final Rotational State Populations," A. Ali, G. Jihua, and P. J. Dagdigian, J. Chem. Phys., 87, 2045.

1986  "Collisionless and Collision-Induced B - X Emission From Laser Excited CN A2Πv=10 Rotatinal Levels," A. Ali, G. Jihua, and P. J. Dagdigian, Chem. Phys. Lett., 131, 331.

1986  "State-Resolved Study of Collisional Energy Transfer Between A2Πv=7 and X2Σ+v=11 Rotational Level of CN," N. Furio, A. Ali, and P. J. Dagdigian, J. Chem. Phys., 85, 3860.

1979  "Population Densities of Triplet Excited States in a Diffuse Nitrogen Plasma," A. Ali, U. K. Roychowdhury, and P. K. Gosh, J. Physique, 40, 129.

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