Interstellar dust

In the dense interstellar medium characteristic of sites of star fonuation, for example, scattering of visible/UV light by sub-micron-sized dust grains makes molecular clouds optically opaque and lowers their internal temperature to only a few tens of Kelvin. The thenual radiation from such objects therefore peaks in the FIR and only becomes optically thin at even longer wavelengths. Rotational motions of small molecules and rovibrational transitions of larger species and clusters thus provide, in many cases, the only or the most powerfiil probes of the dense, cold gas and dust of the interstellar medium. 

Table 5.2 shows that quite large molecules, of which the cyanopolyacetylenes form a remarkable group, have been detected. The presence of such sizeable molecules in the interstellar medium came as a considerable surprise. Previously, it was supposed that the ultraviolet radiation present throughout all galaxies would photodecompose most of the molecules, and particularly the larger ones. It seems likely that the dust particles play an important part not only in the formation of the molecules but also in preventing their decomposition. 

Panels of siUca aerogels have already been flown on several Space Shuttle missions (74). Currently a STARDUST mission has been planned by NASA to use aerogels to capture cometary samples (>1000 particles of >15 micron diameter) and interstellar dust particles... 

Despite many publications on carbynes, their existence has not been universally accepted and the literature has been characterised by conflicting claims and counter claims [e.g., 27-29]. This is particularly tme of meteoritic carbynes. An interesting account of die nature of elemental carbon in interstellar dust (including diamond, graphite and carbynes) was given by Pillinger [30]. Reitmeijer [31] has re-interpreted carbyne diffraction data and has concluded that carbynes could be stratified or mixed layer carbons with variable heteroelement content (H,0,N) rather than a pure carbon allotrope. 

Born in London, Paul May grew up in Redditch, Worcestershire. He went on to study at Bristol University, where he graduated with a first class honours in chemistry in 1985. He then joined GEC Hirst Research Centre in Wembley where he worked on semiconductor processing for three years, before returning to Bristol to study for a PhD in plasma etching of semiconductors. His PhD was awarded in 1991, and he then remained at Bristol to co-found the CVD diamond research group. In 1992 he was awarded a Ramsay Memorial Fellowship to continue the diamond work, and after that a Royal Society University Fellowship. In October 1999 he became a full-time lecturer in the School of Chemistry at Bristol. He is currently 36 years old. His scientific interests include diamond films, plasma chemistry, interstellar space dust, the internet and web technology. His recreational interests include table-tennis, science fiction, and heavy metal music. 

The darkness associated with dense interstellar clouds is caused by dust particles of size =0.1 microns, which are a common ingredient in interstellar and circum-stellar space, taking up perhaps 1% of the mass of interstellar clouds with a fractional number density of 10-12. These particles both scatter and absorb external visible and ultraviolet radiation from stars, protecting molecules in dense clouds from direct photodissociation via external starlight. They are rather less protective in the infrared, and are quite transparent in the microwave.6 The chemical nature of the dust particles is not easy to ascertain compared with the chemical nature of the interstellar gas broad spectral features in the infrared have been interpreted in terms of core-mantle particles, with the cores consisting of two populations, one of silicates and one of carbonaceous, possibly graphitic material. The mantles, which appear to be restricted to dense clouds, are probably a mixture of ices such as water, carbon monoxide, and methanol.7... 

The first question to ask about the formation of interstellar molecules is where the formation occurs. There are two possibilities the molecules are formed within the clouds themselves or they are formed elsewhere. As an alternative to local formation, one possibility is that the molecules are synthesized in the expanding envelopes of old stars, previously referred to as circumstellar clouds. Both molecules and dust particles are known to form in such objects, and molecular development is especially efficient in those objects that are carbon-rich (elemental C > elemental O) such as the well-studied source IRC+10216.12 Chemical models of carbon-rich envelopes show that acetylene is produced under high-temperature thermodynamic equilibrium conditions and that as the material cools and flows out of the star, a chemistry somewhat akin to an acetylene discharge takes place, perhaps even forming molecules as complex as PAHs.13,14 As to the contribution of such chemistry to the interstellar medium, however, all but the very large species will be photodissociated rapidly by the radiation field present in interstellar space once the molecules are blown out of the protective cocoon of the stellar envelope in which they are formed. Consequently, the material flowing out into space will consist mainly of atoms, dust particles, and possibly PAHs that are relatively immune to radiation because of their size and stability. It is therefore necessary for the observed interstellar molecules to be produced locally. 

The above examples should suffice to show how ion-molecule, dissociative recombination, and neutral-neutral reactions combine to form a variety of small species. Once neutral species are produced, they are destroyed by ion-molecule and neutral-neutral reactions. Stable species such as water and ammonia are depleted only via ion-molecule reactions. The dominant reactive ions in model calculations are the species HCO+, H3, H30+, He+, C+, and H+ many of then-reactions have been studied in the laboratory.41 Radicals such as OH can also be depleted via neutral-neutral reactions with atoms (see reactions 13, 15, 16) and, according to recent measurements, by selected reactions with stable species as well.18 Another loss mechanism in interstellar clouds is adsorption onto dust particles. Still another is photodestruction caused by ultraviolet photons produced when secondary electrons from cosmic ray-induced ionization excite H2, which subsequently fluoresces.42... 

What is the ultimate fate of the molecular material formed in the envelopes of carbon-rich stars as it heads out into space The dust grains will be processed only slowly by the interstellar radiation held and survive almost intact until they become part of an interstellar cloud. The survival of individual PAHs depends on their size the larger ones withstand radiation much better than do the smaller ones.115 By survival we are referring to the aromatic skeleton the interstellar radiation field will efficiently break H bonds and cause ionization so that unsaturated, ionized PAHs are likely to dominate those found in the diffuse interstellar medium. Such species have been suggested as a source of the DIBs.118,123 Small molecules photodissociate in the interstellar radiation field before the material becomes part of an interstellar cloud. 

According to present-day concepts, our solar system was formed from a huge gas-dust cloud several light years across in a side arm of the Milky Way. The particle density of this interstellar material was very low, perhaps 108-1010 particles or molecules per cubic metre, i.e., it formed a vacuum so extreme that it can still not be achieved in the laboratory. The material consisted mainly of hydrogen and helium with traces of other elements. The temperature of the system has been estimated as 15 K. 

Stardust February 7, 1999, saw the start of NASA s Stardust mission the cometary probe, the first mission to collect cosmic dust and return the sample to Earth, has a time-of-flight mass spectrometer (CIDA, Cometary and Interstellar Dust Analyser) on board. This analyses the ions which are formed when cosmic dust particles hit the instrument s surface. In June 2004, the probe reached its goal, the comet 8 IPAVild 2, getting as close as 236 km The CIDA instrument, which was developed at the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Garching (near Munich), studied both cometary dust and interstellar star dust. 

The interstellar dust was shown to contain quinone derivatives as well as oxygen-rich condensed aromatic compounds the quinones were present in both hydrated and carboxylated form. Very little nitrogen was present in the compounds detected. The cometary material, however, contained condensed nitrogen heterocycles. Hardly any oxygen was detected in the solid phase of the cometary dust it possibly evaporates from the tail of the comet in the form of water or oxidized carbon compounds. The authors assume that these analytical results could lead to a reconsideration of the current biogenesis models (Kissel et al 2004 Brownlee, 2004). 

The dark clouds were responsible for the discovery of ISM, as they absorb the light from stars which lies behind these clouds of interstellar matter. It is difficult to obtain reliable information on the dust particles. They are probably about 0.1 pm in diameter, consisting of a silicate nucleus and an envelope of compounds containing the elements C, O and N, which, with H and He, are the main elements present in interstellar space. There are only two sources of information for more exact characterisation of the dust particles ... 

Electromagnetic stellar radiation which has passed through regions containing interstellar dust particles. The values of the absorbed or scattered wavelengths make it possible to draw conclusions on the chemical composition or the physical properties of the particles. 

Fig. 3.11 Interstellar dust particles cause the extinction of starlight by the selective scattering of certain light wavelengths. Far IR is on the left, far UV on the right. Satellite data suggest that the extinction curve consists of three components ...

Fig. 3.12 Model of an agglomerate consisting of many small interstellar dust particles. Each of the rod-shaped particles consists of a silicate nucleus surrounded by yellowish organic material. A further coating consists of ice formed from condensed gases, such as water, ammonia, methanol, carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide. Photograph Gisela Kruger, University of Bremen...

The yellow substance was studied under deep space conditions. After being subjected to UV-irradiation for about four months, it changed colour to brown, possibly due to enrichment in carbon or carbon-containing compounds. IR analysis showed that the new brown substance showed the same absorption lines as those observed in interstellar dust. A special IR study carried out at Stanford University indicated that the brown substance contained many PAHs. 

Interstellar dust is also important for the formation and development of stars. Although the dust particle component is only a minor one in ISM, it acts as a cooling agent for collapsing clouds, thus preventing the buildup of an effective thermodynamic counterpressure. 

As an example, we shall discuss the interstellar synthesis of a compound which is produced on Earth in millions of tons per year methanol. This simplest alcohol was obtained by Robert Boyle in 1661 from the dry distillation of wood. In the molecular clouds of the universe, it is likely that hydrogenation of CO on the surface of dust particles occurs according to the following scheme (Tielens and Charnley, 1997) ... 

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