Related papers: The SiC problem: astronomical and meteoritic evide…
In this paper we demonstrate that distinguishing between the polytypes of silicon carbide by means of infrared features in small-grain spectra is impossible. Therefore, the infrared spectra of carbon stars, unfortunately, do not provide a…
Micron-sized stardust grains that originated in ancient stars are recovered from meteorites and analysed using high-resolution mass spectrometry. The most widely studied type of stardust is silicon carbide (SiC). Thousands of these grains…
We compare literature data for the isotopic ratios of Zr, Sr, and Ba from analysis of single meteoritic stardust silicon carbide (SiC) grains to new predictions for the slow neutron-capture process (the s process) in metal-rich asymptotic…
We present here the first infrared spectra of meteoritic SiC grains. The mid-infrared transmission spectra of meteoritic SiC grains isolated from the Murchison meteorite were measured in the wavelength range 2.5--16.5 micron, in order to…
Stardust grains that originated in ancient stars and supernovae are recovered from meteorites and carry the detailed composition of their astronomical sites of origin. We present evidence that the majority of large ($\mu$m-sized) meteoritic…
Silicon Carbide (SiC) optical constants are fundamental inputs for radiative transfer models of astrophysical dust environments. However, previously published values contain errors and do not adequately represent the bulk physical…
Primitive meteorites contain small amounts of presolar minerals that formed in the winds of evolved stars or in the ejecta of stellar explosions. Silicon carbide is the best studied presolar mineral. Based on its isotopic compositions it…
Mainstream presolar SiC grains from primitive meteorites show a clear s-process signature in the isotopic composition of heavy trace elements. These grains most likely condensed in the winds of a variety of AGB stars. However, the non-solar…
While it is well recognized that interstellar grains are made of amorphous silicates and some form of carbonaceous materials, it remains debated regarding what exact chemical and physical form the carbonaceous component takes. Contemporary…
The {\it assumption of additive absorptivity} by different components in compound particles is a widely used method applied in the literature to the analysis of the chemical and structural properties of astronomical (circumstellar,…
Laboratory measurements of unpolarized and polarized absorption spectra of various samples and crystal stuctures of silicon carbide (SiC) are presented from 1200--35,000 cm$^{-1}$ ($\lambda \sim$ 8--0.28 $\mu$m) and used to improve the…
A set of 45 dust envelopes of carbon stars has been modeled. Among them, 34 were selected according to their dust envelope class (as suggested by Sloan, Little-Marenin & Price, 1998) and 11 are extreme carbon stars. The models were…
Silicon carbide, a refractory material, condenses near the photospheres of C-rich AGB stars, giving rise to a conspicuous emission feature at 11.3 mu. In the presence of a stellar wind, the SiC grains are carried outwards to colder regions,…
We calculate and discuss the chemical evolution of the isotopic silicon abundances in the interstellar medium at distances and times appropriate to the birth of the solar system. This has several objectives, some of which are related to…
Although mainstream SiC grains, the major group of presolar SiC grains found in meteorites, are believed to have originated in the expanding envelope of asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars during their late carbon-rich phases, their Si…
Stars on the asymptotic giant branch (AGB) produce dust in their circumstellar shells. The nature of the dust-forming environment is influenced by the evolution of the stars, in terms of both chemistry and density, leading to an evolution…
Isotopic ratios of C, N, Si, and trace heavy elements in presolar SiC grains from meteorites provide crucial constraints to nucleosynthesis. A long-debated issue is the origin of the so-called A+B grains, as for them no stellar progenitor…
(Modified) We study the abundance of silicon in the intergalactic medium by analyzing the statistics of SiIV, CIV, and HI pixel optical depths in a sample of 19 high-quality quasar absorption spectra spanning redshifts z ~ 2 - 4, which we…
Photoluminescence spectra show that silicon impurity is present in lattice of some nanodiamond grains (ND) of various chondrites as a silicon-vacancy (SiV) defect. The relative intensity of the SiV band in the diamond-rich separates depends…
The first complete infrared FTIR absorption spectra for carbonado-diamond confirm the interstellar origin for the most enigmatic diamonds known as carbonado. All previous attempts failed to measure the absorption of carbonado-diamond in the…