Between stars, space is filled with tiny dust grains made of silicates, carbon, and ices. These grains are the building blocks of planets and drive key chemical reactions, from the formation of water on early Earth to the growth of exoplanet atmospheres. 

The FWF-funded project SURREAL, opens an external URL in a new window explores how reactions occur on silicate surfaces under the extreme conditions of space. Using cutting-edge atomic-resolution techniques, it will recreate interstellar environments in the lab to track these processes atom by atom.

By uncovering how silicate grains interact with gases and ices, the project aims to answer long-standing questions about molecule formation in space and the origins of planetary systems.