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Dust Analysis Lab

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\chapter{Observational Properties and Modeling of Dust}\label{Ch:ObsProp} As outlined in the introduction, dust appears in observations through several phenomena. Each of these offer insights on the composition, size, and other properties of dust. Dust modeling is inextricable from observational constraints. The most illuminating field is dust interaction with electromagnetic radiation. Dust can either absorb certain wavelengths, scatter, or emit radiation. Extinction is at the core of dust investigations, and consists of the absorption and scattering of starlight in wavelengths from the vacuum ultraviolet to the mid-infrared, or 0.1 to 20 $\mu$m. This is a form of wavelength-dependent attenuation. The starlight or galaxy SED that crosses a dusty medium in these wavelengths is therefore heavily altered. Extinction is particularly sensitive to dust grain size. …show more content…

Reflection nebulae's light is heavily scattered by dust. Dust has a thermal emission from the sub-mm to about 2 $\mu$m. X-ray point sources are also affected by dust via small-angle scattering. In the microwave band, dust emits light via rapidly spinning ultrasmall grains. However, there are other methods. Meteorites offer insights on the composition of presolar grains. Chemical evolution studies can predict which metals are ejected into interstellar grains, and when they are under-abundant, dust modeling may presume the missing elements are trapped within dust. The abundance of molecular hydrogen in the ISM is understood only if dust acts as a catalyst for its

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