Related papers: Rusty old stars: a source of the missing interstel…
The origin of low alpha/Fe ratios in some metal-poor stars, so called low-alpha stars, is discussed. It is found that most of low-alpha stars in the Galaxy are on the main-sequence. This strongly suggests that these stars suffered from…
The low density interstellar medium (ISM) close to the Sun and inside of the heliosphere provides a unique laboratory for studying interstellar dust grains. Grain characteristics in the nearby ISM are obtained from observations of…
Sulfur is one of the most abundant elements in the Universe, with important roles in astro-, geo-, and biochemistry. Its main reservoirs in planet-forming disks have previously eluded detection: gaseous molecules only account for $<1\,$\%…
We compiled the polarimetric data for a sample of lines of sight with known abundances of Mg, Si, and Fe. We correlated the degree of interstellar polarization $P$ and polarization efficiency (the ratio of $P$ to the colour excess $E(B-V)$…
Observations have revealed unexpectedly large amounts of dust in high-redshift galaxies and its origin is still much debated. Valiante et al. (2009, MNRAS, 397, 1661) suggested the net stellar dust production of the quasar host galaxy SDSS…
Elements in the interstellar medium (ISM) exist in the form of gas or dust. The interstellar extinction and elemental abundances provide crucial constraints on the composition, size and quantity of interstellar dust. Most of the extinction…
Winds from star-forming galaxies provide the most promising explanation for the enrichment of the intergalactic medium with heavy elements. Theoretical and observational arguments indicate that the pollution may have occurred at z > 6;…
Depletion studies provide a way to understand the chemical composition of interstellar dust grains. We here examine 23 gamma-ray bursts (GRB) optical afterglow spectra (spanning 0.6<z<5.0) and compare their silicon and iron dust-phase…
The most metal-poor stars found in the Galaxy and in nearby galaxies are witnesses of the early evolution of the Universe. In a general picture in which we expect the metallicity to increase monotonically with time, as a result of the metal…
Background: Most of the stars in the Universe will end their evolution by losing their envelope during the thermally pulsing asymptotic giant branch (TP-AGB) phase, enriching the interstellar medium of galaxies with heavy elements,…
It is well known that newly formed planetary systems undergo processes of orbital reconfiguration and planetary migration. As a result, planets or protoplanetary objects may accrete onto the central star, being fused and mixed into its…
Context. High-resolution X-ray spectroscopy offers a powerful tool to investigate the physical and chemical properties of dust grains, especially through the analysis of absorption edges of elements such as oxygen, magnesium, silicon, and…
Due to their different nucleosynthetic origin, a stellar population produces oxygen (O) and iron (Fe) on different timescales and their relative abundance can deviate strongly from solar. Galaxy formation models should treat these elements…
Measurements by dust detectors on interplanetary spacecraft appear to indicate a substantial flux of interstellar particles with masses exceeding 10^{-12}gram. The reported abundance of these massive grains cannot be typical of interstellar…
We investigate the composition of interstellar grains along the line of sight toward Zeta Ophiuchi, a well-studied environment near the diffuse-dense cloud transition. A spectral decomposition analysis of the solid-state absorbers is…
Large dust grains can fluctuate dramatically in their local density, relative to gas, in neutral, turbulent disks. Small, high-redshift galaxies (before reionization) represent ideal environments for this process. We show via simple…
This paper reviews the dust content of the high redshift (z > 2) universe. Studies of the various "species" in the high-z "zoo" show that almost all have strong evidence for containing dust. The one exception, where the evidence is not yet…
The interstellar medium (ISM) has a multiphase structure characterized by gas, dust and molecules. The gas can be found in different charge states: neutral, low-ionized (warm) and high-ionized (hot). It is possible to probe the multiphase…
Interstellar dust is a significant component of matter in the galaxies. The dust owns its origin and reprocessing in a wide range of astrophysical environments. In order to understand the origin and evolution of the distinct types of…
The mean iron abundance observed in the intergalactic medium (IGM) within galaxy clusters and without galaxy clusters is consistent with the mean amount of iron per unit volume in the Universe which has been produced by standard supernova…