Aims. We present results of the analysis of cometary X-ray spectra with an extended version of our charge exchange emission model (Bodewits et al. 2006). We have applied this model to the sample of 8 comets thus far observed with the Chandra X-ray observatory and acis spectrometer in the 300-1000 eV range. Methods. The interaction model is based on state selective, velocity dependent charge exchange cross sections and is used to explore how cometary X-ray emission depend on cometary, observational and solar wind characteristics. It is further demonstrated that cometary X-ray spectra mainly reflect the state of the local solar wind. The current sample of Chandra observations was fit using the constrains of the charge exchange model, and relative solar wind abundances were derived from the X-ray spectra. Results. Our analysis showed that spectral differences can be ascribed to different solar wind states, as such identifying comets interacting with (I) fast, cold wind, (II), slow, warm wind and (III) disturbed, fast, hot winds associated with interplanetary coronal mass ejections. We furthermore predict the existence of a fourth spectral class, associated with the cool, fast high latitude wind.

Until now, photodissociation studies on free complex protonated peptides were limited to the UV wavelength range accessible by intense lasers. We have studied photodissociation of gas-phase protonated leucine-enkephalin cations for vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) photons energies ranging from 8 to 40 eV. We report time-of-flight mass spectra of the photofragments and various photofragmentyields as a function of photon energy. For sub-ionization energies our results are in line with existing studies on UV photodissociation of leucine-enkephalin. For photon energies exceeding 10 eV we could identify a new dissociation scheme in which photoabsorption leads to a fast loss of the tyrosine side chain. This loss process leads to the formation of a residual peptide that is remarkably cold internally.

We studied multiple ionization of single nucleobases by means of slow highly charged ions (Xe(q+), q=5-25). The products of the subsequent fragmentation were studied using high resolution coincidence time-of-flight spectrometry. We observed a strong dependence of the fragment kinetic energies on the initial charge state of the intermediate parent ions as well as on the initial chemical environment of the respective fragment ions within the parent molecule. The data allow us to shed light on the charge distribution within the molecule as well as on the fragmentation dynamics of these intermediate size systems.

The propulsion of a liquid indium-tin micro-droplet by nanosecond-pulse laser impact is experimentally investigated. We capture the physics of the droplet propulsion in a scaling law that accurately describes the plasma-imparted momentum transfer, enabling the optimization of the laser-droplet coupling. The subsequent deformation of the droplet is described by an analytical model that accounts for the droplet's propulsion velocity and the liquid properties. Comparing our findings to those from vaporization-accelerated mm-sized water droplets, we demonstrate that the hydrodynamic response of laser-impacted droplets is scalable and independent of the propulsion mechanism.