Research
In a general way, I am interested in the molecular composition of interstellar ices and the link between the solid and gas phase inventory in the interstellar medium. I am also interested in probing the morphology of interstellar ice analogs through IR spectroscopy and UV-vis interference measurements.
During the first years of my Ph.D., I worked on building a vacuum setup (IRASIS - InfraRed Absorption Setup for Ice Spectroscopy) for studying the mid-IR spectra of molecules in simulated interstellar ice conditions. The main goal of my research has been systematically characterizing the spectral signatures of complex organic species in the solid phase for supporting the upcoming JWST (James Webb Space Telescope) observations of interstellar ices. For an overview about IRASIS, see Rachid et al. 2021 (soon a new version with the last upgrades of IRASIS will be available). All the published data is publicly available from the Leiden Ice Database for Astrochemistry- LIDA (Rocha, Rachid et al. 2022
). In the laboratory, I have also worked on the measurements of optical constants of ices in the UV-vis range and optical properties of ices.
Apart from the lab, I am also part of the team analyzing interstellar ice observations from the JWST Early Release Science program ICE AGE (P.I. Melissa McClure). More recently, I have also worked with observations of organic species in molecular cores with ALMA, with foccus on acetone (CH3COCH3) and chemically-related molecules (Rachid et al. in prep).
Publications
Rocha W., Rachid, M. G., McClure, M.,He, J.,\& Linnartz, H., (2023) Water ice: temperature-dependent refractive indexes and their astrophysical implications, Astronomy & Astrophysics, accepted.
Slavicinska, K., Rachid, M. G., Rocha, W., Chuang, K.-J, van Dishoeck, E.F. \& Linnartz, H., (2023) The hunt for formamide in interstellar ices: A toolkit of laboratory infrared spectra in astronomically relevant ice mixtures and comparisons to ISO, Spitzer, and JWST observations, Astrochemistry, Astronomy & Astrophysics, accepted.
Y. Chen, M. L. van Gelder, P. Nazari, C. L. Brogan, E. F. van Dishoeck, H. Linnartz, J. K. Jørgensen, T. R. Hunter, O. H. Wilkins, G. A. Blake, P. Caselli, K.-J. Chuang, C. Codella, I. Cooke, M. N. Drozdovskaya, R. T. Garrod, S. Ioppolo, M. Jin, B. M. Kulterer, N. F. W. Ligterink, A. Lipnicky, R. Loomis, \textbf{M. G. Rachid}, S. Spezzano, B. A. McGuire (2023), CoCCoA: Complex Chemistry in hot Cores with ALMA. Selected oxygen-bearing species,Astronomy & Astrophysics, accepted.
McClure, M.K., Rocha, W.R.M., Pontoppidan, K.M., Crouzet, N., Chu, L.E., Dartois, E., Lamberts, T., Noble, J.A., Pendleton, Y.J., Perotti, G., Qasim, D., Rachid, M.G., et al. 2023. An Ice Age JWST inventory of dense molecular cloud ices. Nature astronomy, pp.1-13.
Rocha, W., Rachid, M. G., B. Olsthoorn, E. F. van Dishoeck, M. K. McClure, H. Linnartz (2022). LIDA - The Leiden Ice Database for Astrochemistry, Astronomy & Astrophysics, 668, A63.
Rachid, M. G., Rocha W., Linnartz, H., (2022). Infrared spectra of complex organic molecules in astronomically relevant ice mixtures- V. Methyl cyanide (acetonitrile), Astronomy & Astrophysics, 665, A89.
He, J., Diamant, S. J., Wang, S., Yu, H., Rocha, W. R., Rachid, M., Linnartz, H. (2022). Refractive Index and Extinction Coefficient of Vapor-deposited Water Ice in the UV–vis Range. The Astrophysical Journal, 925(2), 179.
Rachid, M. G., Brunken, N., De Boe, D., Fedoseev, G., Boogert, A. C. A., & Linnartz, H. (2021). Infrared spectra of complex organic molecules in astronomically relevant ice mixtures-IV. Methylamine. Astronomy & Astrophysics, 653, A116.
Rachid, M. G., van Scheltinga, J. T., Koletzki, D., & Linnartz, H. (2020). Infrared spectra of complex organic molecules in astronomically relevant ice mixtures-II. Acetone. Astronomy & Astrophysics, 639, A4.
Candian, A., Gomes Rachid, M., MacIsaac, H., Staroverov, V. N., Peeters, E., & Cami, J. (2019). Searching for stable fullerenes in space with computational chemistry. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 485(1), 1137-1146.
Rachid, M. G., Pilling, S., Rocha, W. R. M., Agnihotri, A., Rothard, H., & Boduch, P. (2020). Processing of 72-K water-rich ices by keV and MeV oxygen ions: implications for the Saturnian moon Enceladus. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 494(2), 2396-2409.
Rachid, M. G., Faquine, K., & Pilling, S. (2017). Destruction of C2H4O2 isomers in ice-phase by X-rays: Implication on the abundance of acetic acid and methyl formate in the interstellar medium. Planetary and Space Science, 149, 83-93.
Terrabuio, L. A., Teodoro, T. Q., Rachid, M. G., & Haiduke, R. L. (2013). Systematic theoretical study of non-nuclear electron density maxima in some diatomic molecules. The Journal of Physical Chemistry A, 117(40), 10489-10496.
Academic Curriculum
For my complete Academic CV click here .
