Near-infrared Spectroscopy for Remote Sensing of Porosity, Density, and Cubicity of Crystalline and Amorphous H2O Ices in Astrophysical Environments

We present laboratory spectra of pure amorphous and crystalline H2O ices in the near-infrared (NIR, 1-2.5 μm/10,000-4000 cm^−1) at 80-180 K. The aim of this study is to provide spectroscopic reference data that allow remotely accessing ice properties for icy objects such as icy moons, cometary ice, or Saturn rings. Specifically, we identify new spectral markers for assessing three important properties of ices in space: (i) porosity/fluffiness, (ii) bulk density of amorphous ice, and (iii) cubicity in crystalline ice. The analysis is based on the first OH-stretching overtone (2ν OH) and the combinational band at 5000 cm^−1/2 μm, which are potent spectral markers for these properties. By comparison of vapor-deposited, microporous amorphous solid water, pore-free low-, high-, and very-high-density amorphous ice, we are able to separate the effect of (bulk) density from the effect of porosity on NIR-spectra of amorphous ices. This allows for clarifying a longstanding inconsistency about the density of amorphous ice vapor-deposited at low temperatures, first brought up by Jenniskens & Blake. Direct comparison of NIR spectra with powder X-ray diffractograms allows us to correlate spectral features with the number of cubic stacking layers in stacking-disordered ice Isd, ranging from fully cubic ice Ic to fully hexagonal ice Ih. We show that exposure times for instruments on the James Webb Space Telescope are in the hour range to distinguish these properties, demonstrating the usefulness of the neglected NIR spectral range for identifying ices in space.