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Interstellar Dust Grains

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Abstract

This chapter discusses the interstellar grains, including the effects of extinction, polarization, and energy emission in the infrared spectrum. An overview of Mie’s theory is given, and the chapter ends with a discussion of the physical properties of the interstellar grains.

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Bibliography

  • Dyson, J., Williams, D.A.: The Physics of the Interstellar Medium. Institute of Physics Publishing, London (1997). Referred to in Chapter 1. Includes a good discussion on interstellar grains and their physical properties, such as temperature and electric charge

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  • Evans, A.: The Dusty Universe. Wiley, New York (1994). A very complete and up to date introduction to interstellar, circumstellar, and extragalactic dust grains

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  • Greenberg, J.M.: In: McDonnell, J.A.M. (ed.) Cosmic Dust. Wiley, New York (1978). Excellent review article on interstellar dust grains. See also Setti, G.G. & Fazzio, G.G. (eds.). Infrared Astronomy. Dordrecht, Reidel, 1978 and the recent compilation of d'Hendrecourt, L.; Joblin, C. & Jones, A. (eds.). Solid Interstellar Matter: the ISO Revolution. Paris, EDP, 1999

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  • Herbig, G.H.: The diffuse interstellar bands. Annu. Rev. Astron. Astrophys. 33, 19 (1995). Recent review article about diffuse interstellar bands, including a catalogue of observed bands in the direction of HD 183143

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  • Mie, G.: Beiträge zur Optik trüber Medien, speziell kolloidaler Metallösungen. Ann. Phys. 25, 377 (1908). Classical work on the theory of the interaction of radiation with grains. See also Debye, P. Ann. Phys. vol. 30, p. 59, 1909

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  • Savage, B.D., Mathis, J.S.: Observed properties of interstellar dust. Annu. Rev. Astron. Astrophys. 17, 73 (1979). Detailed study of the interstellar extinction curve. Figure 9.3 and Table 9.1 are based on this reference. See also Mathis, J.S. Ann. Rev. Astron. & Astrophys. vol. 28, p.37, 1990; Rep. Prog. Phys. vol. 56, p.605, 1993 e Mathis, J.S.; Rumpl, W. & Nordsieck, K.H. Astrophys. J. vol. 217, p.425, 1977 (MRN)

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  • Spitzer, L.: Physical Processes in the Interstellar Medium. Wiley, New York (1978). Referred to in Chapter 1. Includes an excellent discussion on interstellar grains, their optical properties, physical properties, and composition. Figures 9.1 and 9.4 are based on this reference

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Exercises

Exercises

  1. 9.1

    Diffuse galactic light is basically produced from stellar radiation scattered by interstellar grains. Consider a cloud with spherical grains with radius a = 1,000 Å and grain density n d, in an interstellar cloud where n H = 10 cm−3. (a) Use the grain-to-gas ratio determined in this chapter and estimate the grain density n d. (b) Estimate the grain absorption coefficient defined per unit volume (cm−1), k d ≃ σ gn d, where σ g is the geometric section of the grains. (c) Estimate the absorption coefficient corresponding to the gas atoms for Rayleigh scattering, where σ R ~ 10−24 cm2. Which process will dominate?

  2. 9.2

    Show that the grain-to-gas ratio in the interstellar medium may be approximately written as

    $$ \frac{{{\rho_{\mathrm{ d}}}}}{{{\rho_{\mathrm{ H}}}}}\simeq \frac{{\left( {4/3} \right){R_V}a{s_{\mathrm{ g}}}}}{{1.086{Q_{\mathrm{ e}}}\left( {{N_{\mathrm{ H}}}/{E_{B-V }}} \right){m_{\mathrm{ H}}}}}, $$

    where ρ d and ρ H are grain and gas densities, respectively; Q e is the extinction efficiency factor; N H is the gas column density; E B–V is the color excess; and R V is the ratio between general and selective extinction. Grains are assumed spherical with radius a and internal density s g. (b) Estimate the ρ d/ρ H ratio using typical values for R V , N H, and E BV . Use Q e ≃ 1, s g ≃ 3 g cm−3, and typical sizes for silicate grains.

  3. 9.3

    (a) From the definition of the degree of polarization P, show that polarization in magnitude is given by p ≃ 2.17P for P ≪ 1. (b) The maximum interstellar polarization in the direction of a star is 6.1 %, occurring for λ = 5,400 Å. Polarization measurements in this direction in the blue part of the spectrum give P = 5.5 % and P = 5.1 % for λ = 4,000 Å and λ = 3,700 Å, respectively. Apply Serkowski law and determine the mean value of constant K for this star.

  4. 9.4

    A hot star has an interstellar reddening of E BV  = 0.3. The equivalent width of the interstellar Na I D line (λ = 5,890 Å, f = 0.65) in the star direction is W λ  = 700 mÅ. (a) What is the H column density in the star direction? (b) Use the curve of growth given in Chap. 4 and estimate the Na interstellar abundance relative to H, that is, log(N Na/N H) +12. (c) What is the Na depletion factor, assuming a cosmic abundance of ε Na = 6.3?

  5. 9.5

    Infrared object IRC+10216 has a diameter of 0.4 arcsec, corresponding to a dust layer. (a) Supposing that the object is at a 200 pc distance, what is the diameter of the dust layer in cm and in astronomical units (AU)? (b) The total luminosity of the object is 12,000 times higher than the one of the Sun. What would be its radius (in cm and in R ), assuming an effective temperature of 2,000 K?

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Maciel, W.J. (2013). Interstellar Dust Grains. In: Astrophysics of the Interstellar Medium. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-3767-3_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-3767-3_9

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