BC physicist aids NASA research
Associate Professor of Physics Cyril P. Opeil, S.J., 你是少数几个参加国际电子游戏正规平台项目的科学家之一，目的是揭示小行星的性质, how the planets formed, and how life might have emerged on Earth.
Fr. 石油是少有的具有电子游戏正规平台陨石低温热物性和小行星形成经验的电子游戏正规平台人员之一. As part of NASA’s historic OSIRIS-REx mission, 他的任务是进行比热容实验，并确定来自小行星101955 Bennu的物质在低温下如何膨胀和收缩.
He expects to receive the sample, carefully curated by a NASA team, this spring and begin his experiments.
“For me, it’s a wonderful moment,” said Fr. Opeil. “I think it is a tremendous time for a Boston College physicist, a Jesuit, to be asked to participate in this space mission. This is the first NASA program, similar in scope to the lunar Apollo missions of the 1970s, 在那里，一艘美国宇宙飞船飞到一颗近地小行星上取回样本材料. So, it’s a historic moment.”
Launched on September 8, 2016, the OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, 和“安全-风化层探索者”(security - reolith Explorer)飞船飞行了超过10亿英里到达本努, classified as a near-Earth asteroid, and collected about 120 grams of rock and dust from its surface on October 20, 2020. 这艘宇宙飞船花了两年多的时间返回，直到9月24日，它丢弃了一个装有样本的梯形太空舱，降落在犹他州的沙漠中, 2023. From there the spacecraft continued on to its second mission, called OSIRIS-APEX, during which it will visit and scan the asteroid 99942 Apophis in 2029.
In fall 2023, while on sabbatical at the Vatican Observatory in Tucson, Ariz., Fr. 奥西里斯-雷克斯号的一些同事邀请奥西里斯-雷克斯号参加了在亚利桑那大学举行的官方“观礼派对”，观看太空舱在两个降落伞的帮助下滑向地球.
“我会把它比作尼尔·阿姆斯特朗第一次登上月球时看电视的那一刻,” said Fr. Opeil. “一群科学家看着大屏幕，当太空舱着陆时，他们都欢呼起来. It was an awesome moment. 其中一些电子游戏正规平台人员在过去的六到七年里一直在这个项目上, hoping the sample capsule would arrive safely. It was a picture-perfect landing. This is the first NASA asteroid sample retrieval and a complete success.”
Fr. 石油参与分析源于他早期电子游戏正规平台陨石的工作, specifically, 那些被归类为碳质球粒陨石的陨石是数十亿年前由太空尘埃和石质物质混合而成的, coming together under gravity. 作为一名物理学家，他将陨石作为材料进行电子游戏正规平台，探索它们的热学和物理特性.
To do that work, his BC lab includes a dilatometer, 一种仪器，用来测量当温度从接近绝对零度上升时物质如何膨胀. 他在新墨西哥州洛斯阿拉莫斯国家实验室(Los Alamos National Laboratory)做博士后时，首次获得了使用膨胀计分析铀化合物和磁性形状记忆合金的经验. Smith.
In 2020, Fr. Opeil发表了一篇关于他对一组CM2球粒陨石样本进行实验的论文，揭示了一个惊人的结果:这些材料在低温下不会均匀地膨胀和收缩, exhibiting a rare phenomenon called negative thermal expansion. 这是第一次在任何外星物质中观察到负热膨胀. 这些发现引起了等待Bennu样本的天文学家的注意. Essentially, Fr. 石油公司引入了一种测量技术，补充了现有的球粒陨石分析方法.
To better understand the findings, Fr. Opeil measured a kaolinite, a type of clay found on Earth. 高岭石经历负热膨胀——类似于用来制造精细瓷器的热膨胀——与CM2陨石的温度完全相同. This type of clay can form on the Earth or Mars if, and only if, 某些矿物质和液态水在地球上存在了很长一段时间.
“我是少数几个专门测量陨石低温特性的人之一. So, NASA想让我从Bennu取一部分样本，在我的实验室里进行测量,” said Fr. Opeil.
2023年，国际天文学联合会将这颗小行星命名为“石油10692”，以表彰他对天文学的贡献. The main belt asteroid 10692 Opeil has a diameter of 3.126 km and a period of 3.543 years.
他一直在回顾有关Bennu的科学文献以及早期电子游戏正规平台的模型和测量结果. “All of this indicates that Bennu may be made out of a similar material as a CM2 chondrite meteorite; I will be trying to confirm it has these characteristics,” he said. “If that doesn’t happen, it will be a surprise.”
Fr. Opeil acknowledged his collaborators at the University of Central Florida, including Dan Britt; noted astronomer/theorist Marco Delbo of the Observatoire de la Cote d’Azur in France; Jesuit brothers Guy Consolmagno, S.J., and Bob Macke, S.J., at the Vatican Observatory; and Alan Hildebrand of the University of Calgary.
Measuring a group of CM2 carbonaceous chondrites given by Br. Consolmagno, the Vatican Observatory director, led to identifying negative thermal expansion of this group of materials. Fr. 石油的论文证实了一种模糊的负热膨胀陨石现象，与此同时，同类型的样本正从贝努返回地球.
Fr. 欧佩克将与布里特和小组组长、亚利桑那大学的安德鲁·瑞安合作，在科学期刊上发表这一发现. Fr. 欧佩尔目前正在与罗马梵蒂冈天文台的同事一起从事另一个由美国宇航局资助的项目，涉及火星陨石, where he is spending the spring semester.
“I realize how important this is to be one of the few scientists, a Jesuit, who has been asked to participate in this mission. 我认为这部分源于我与梵蒂冈天文台的合作以及我的合作者对陨石样本的电子游戏正规平台,” Fr. Opeil said.
Prior to his characterization of meteorites, Fr. Opeil spent a decade working in the field of thermoelectrics, 一种能源生产的替代形式，热量差产生电能. Collaborations with his BC colleagues, as well as the late MIT physicist Mildred Dresselhaus, 激发了对材料的深入电子游戏正规平台，并结合了固态物理的跨学科方法.
2023年，国际天文学联合会将这颗小行星命名为“石油10692”，以表彰他对天文学的贡献. The main belt asteroid 10692 Opeil has a diameter of 3.126 km and a period of 3.543 years.
“我感到非常荣幸，我得到了英国广播公司的支持，我有实验室做这类工作,” Fr. Opeil said. “And it’s fun. 你可以和人们分享你的经历和发现，关于天上掉下来的东西.”