Laboratory dust analogs

Laboratory investigations confirm that crystalline silicates form in stellar outflows and in protoplanetary disks. In contrast, dust grains in the ISM are dominated by amorphous materials less than 2.2% of the grains are crystalline silicates (Kemper et al 2005). Laboratory simulations of the harsh interstellar radiation fields demonstrate that ion irradiation of crystalline silicates quickly leads to their amorphization (e.g. Jager et al. 2003 Brucato et al. 2004). 

Armed with the results of laboratory studies of astrophysical dust processing, we are able to interpret the complex and varied history of dust in protoplanetary disks. This information is complemented by the detailed analysis of the solid material that remains from the earliest epochs of Solar System formation. 

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Laboratory studies of simple dust analogs in astrophysical environments... 

Laboratory studies of simple dust analogs in astrophysical environments 153 5.5.2 Catalytic effects of dust on synthesis of biomolecules... 

Laboratory production of dust analogs is a highly specialized field that attempts to reproduce a subset of the basic properties of the solids that we expect to exist in a particular astrophysical environment. The synthesis of dust in the outflows of evolved stars, however, is a much more complex process that occurs under nonequilibrium, continuously changing conditions and with the participation of many more chemical elements than can be accommodated by any practical experimental... 

Search for the best analogs for the astronomically observed crystalline dust mid-infrared laboratory spectroscopy of chondritic matrices is needed... 

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