Related papers: Interstellar Dust
Our current understanding of interstellar dust is summarized at an introductory level. Submicron-sized interstellar dust grains absorb and scatter light, and reradiate the absorbed energy in the infrared. The grain population spans a range…
The wavelength dependences of interstellar extinction and polarization, supplemented by observed elemental abundances and the spectrum of infrared emission from dust heated by starlight, strongly constrain dust models. One dust model that…
We analyse observational correlations for three elements entering into the composition of interstellar silicate and oxide grains. Using current solar abundances (Asplund et al. 2009), we convert the gas-phase abundances into dust-phase…
In spite of accounting for only a small fraction of the mass of the Interstellar Medium (ISM), dust plays a primary role in many physical and chemical processes in the Universe. It is the main driver of extinction of radiation in the…
The D/H ratio in interstellar gas varies on scales of a few hundred pc in the local Milky Way, with D/H values ranging from ~7 ppm to ~22 ppm. The reduction in D/H relative to the primordial value of D/H (~ 26 ppm) is usually attributed to…
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…
The gas-to-dust mass ratios found for interstellar dust within the Solar System, versus values determined astronomically for the cloud around the Solar System, suggest that large and small interstellar grains have separate histories, and…
We present a quantitative model for the infrared emission from dust in the diffuse interstellar medium. The model consists of a mixture of amorphous silicate grains and carbonaceous grains, each with a wide size distribution ranging from…
Interstellar dust spans a wide range in size distribution, ranging from ultrasmall grains of a few Angstroms to micrometer-size grains. While the presence of nanometer-size dust grains in the Galactic interstellar medium was speculated six…
Interstellar dust is a major foreground contaminant for many observations and a key component in the chemistry of the interstellar medium, yet its properties remain highly uncertain. Using low-resolution spectra, we accurately measure the…
We discuss the different dust components of a protoplanetary disk with a special emphasis on grain composition, size and structure. The paper will highlight the role dust grains play in protoplanetary disks, as well as observational results…
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…
The interstellar medium (ISM) can be thought of as the galactic atmosphere which fills the space between stars. When clouds within the ISM collapse, stars are born. When the stars die, they return their matter to the surrounding gas.…
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…
A broad array of interstellar absorption features that appear in the ultraviolet spectra of bright sources allows us to measure the abundances and ionization states of many important heavy elements that exist as free atoms in the…
Galactic dust constitutes approximately half of the elements more massive than helium produced in stellar nucleosynthesis. Notwithstanding the formation of dust grains in the dense, cool atmospheres of late-type stars, there still remain…
This article gives an overview of the constitution, physical conditions and observables of dust in the interstellar medium of nearby galaxies. We first review the macroscopic, spatial distribution of dust in these objects, and its…
Interstellar dust appears in a number of roles in the interstellar medium. Historically, the most familiar one is as a source of extinction in the optical. Absorbed optical and ultraviolet light heats the dust, whence infrared (including…
We are living in a dusty universe: dust is ubiquitously seen in a wide variety of astrophysical environments, ranging from circumstellar envelopes around cool red giants to supernova ejecta, from diffuse and dense interstellar clouds and…
This review surveys the observed properties of interstellar dust grains: the wavelength-dependent extinction of starlight, including absorption features, from UV to IR; optical luminescence; IR emission; microwave emission; optical, UV, and…