Dust plays a central role in the unification theory of active galactic nuclei (AGNs). However, little is known about the nature (e.g., size, composition) of the dust which forms a torus around the AGN. In this Letter we report a systematic exploration of the optical extinction (A_V) and the silicate absorption optical depth (Δ\tau9.7) of 110 type 2 AGNs. We derive A_V from the Balmer decrement based on the Sloan Digital Sky Survey data, and Δ\tau9.7 from the Spitzer/Infrared Spectrograph data. We find that with a mean ratio of A_V/Δ\tau9.7 ~ 5.5, the optical-to-silicate extinction ratios of these AGNs are substantially lower than that of the Galactic diffuse interstellar medium (ISM) for which A_V/Δ\tau9.7 ~ 18.5. We argue that the anomalously low A_V/Δ\tau9.7 ratio could be due to the predominance of larger grains in the AGN torus compared to that in the Galactic diffuse ISM.
It is generally agreed that interstellar dust grains consist of two main components, namely, silicates and graphites. Some models, like MRN model, assume these grains to be homogeneous spheres following a power law size distribution. This paper presents, in the framework of Mie theory, a parametrization of extinction spectrum curves of the silicates and the graphites separately in terms of frequency and the minimum and maximum of sizes in the distribution. Analytic expressions in ultraviolet and far-ultraviolet are presented for both types of grains.The values of maximum and minimum sizes for …
We interpret the interstellar extinction observed towards the Galactic Center (GC) in the wavelength range $λ= 1 - 20\,\mkm$. Its main feature is the flat extinction at $3 - 8\,\mkm$ whose explanation is still a problem for the cosmic dust models. We search for structure and chemical composition of dust grains that could explain the observed extinction. In contrast to earlier works we use laboratory measured optical constants and consider particles of different structure. We show that a mixture of compact grains of aromatic carbon and of some silicate is better suited for reproducing the flat …
We investigated the emission of active galactic nuclei dusty tori in the infrared domain, with a focus on the 10 micron silicate feature. We modeled the dusty torus as a clumpy two-phase medium with high-density clumps and a low-density medium filling the space between the clumps. We employed a three-dimensional radiative transfer code to obtain spectral energy distributions and images of tori at different wavelengths. We calculated a grid of models for different parameters and analyzed the influence of these parameters on the shape of the mid-infrared emission. A corresponding set of clumps-o…
The 9.7$μ$m interstellar spectral feature, arising from the Si--O stretch of amorphous silicate dust, is the strongest extinction feature in the infrared (IR). In principle, the spectral profile of this feature could allow one to diagnose the mineralogical composition of interstellar silicate material. However, observationally, the 9.7$μ$m interstellar silicate extinction profile is not well determined. Here we utilize the Spitzer/IRS spectra of five early-type (one O- and four B-type) stars and compare them with that of unreddened stars of the same spectral type to probe the interstellar exti…
Anomalous microwave emission (AME) is an important Galactic foreground of Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) radiation. It is believed that the AME arises from rotational emission by spinning polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the interstellar medium (ISM). In this paper, we assume that a population of ultrasmall silicate grains may exist in the ISM, and quantify rotational emissivity from these tiny particles and its polarization spectrum. We found that spinning silicate nanoparticles can produce strong rotational emission when those small grains follow a log-normal size distribution. …
The first detection of the silicate absorption feature in AGNs was made at 9.7 micrometer for the prototypical Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 1068 over 30 years ago, indicating the presence of a large column of silicate dust in the line-of-sight to the nucleus. It is now well recognized that type 2 AGNs exhibit prominent silicate absorption bands, while the silicate bands of type 1 AGNs appear in emission. More recently, using the Mid-Infrared Interferometric Instrument on the Very Large Telescope Interferometer, Jaffe et al. (2004) by the first time spatially resolved the parsec-sized dust torus around…
We report the detection and successful modeling of the unusual 9.7\mum Si--O stretching silicate emission feature in the type 1 (i.e. face-on) LINER nucleus of M81. Using the Infrared Spectrograph (IRS) instrument on Spitzer, we determine the feature in the central 230 pc of M81 to be in strong emission, with a peak at ~10.5\mum. This feature is strikingly different in character from the absorption feature of the galactic interstellar medium, and from the silicate absorption or weak emission features typical of galaxies with active star formation. We successfully model the high signal-to-noise…
Spinning small silicate grains were recently invoked to account for the Galactic foreground anomalous microwave emission. These grains, if present, will absorb starlight in the far ultraviolet (UV). There is also renewed interest in attributing the enigmatic 2175 Angstrom interstellar extinction bump to small silicates. To probe the role of silicon in the UV extinction, we explore the relations between the amount of silicon required to be locked up in silicates [Si/H]_{dust} and the 2175 Angstrom bump or the far-UV extinction rise, based on an analysis of the extinction curves along 46 Galacti…
We report the detection of interstellar silicate dust in the z_abs=0.685 absorber along the sightline toward the gravitationally lensed blazar TXS 0218+357. Using Spitzer Space Telescope Infrared Spectrograph data we detect the 10 micron silicate absorption feature with a detection significance of 10.7-sigma. We fit laboratory-derived silicate dust profile templates obtained from literature to the observed 10 micron absorption feature, and find that the best single-mineral fit is obtained using an amorphous olivine template with a measured peak optical depth of tau_10=0.49+/-0.02, which rises …
How dust scatters and absorbs starlight in the interstellar medium (ISM) contains important clues about the size and composition of interstellar dust. While the ultraviolet (UV) and visible interstellar extinction is well studied and can be closely fitted in terms of various dust mixtures (e.g., the silicategraphite mixture), the infrared (IR) extinction is not well understood, particularly, the mid-IR extinction in the 3-8 micron wavelength range is rather flat (or "gray") and is inconsistent with the standard Mathis, Rumpl, & Nordsieck (MRN) silicate-graphite dust model. We attempt to reprod…
Dust plays a central role in the unification theory of active galactic nuclei (AGNs). Whether the dust that forms the torus around an AGN is tenth-$μ$m-sized like interstellar grains or much larger has a profound impact on correcting for the obscuration of the dust torus to recover the intrinsic spectrum and luminosity of the AGN. Here we show that the ratio of the optical extinction in the visual band ($A_V$) to the optical depth of the 9.7 $μ$m silicate absorption feature ($Δτ_{9.7}$) could potentially be an effective probe of the dust size. The anomalously lower ratio of $A_V/Δτ_{9.7} \appr…
We measured the mid-infrared (MIR) extinction using Spitzer photometry and spectroscopy (3.6--37 micron) for a sample of Milky Way sightlines (mostly) having measured ultraviolet extinction curves. We used the pair method to determine the MIR extinction that we then fit with a power law for the continuum and modified Drude profiles for the silicate features. We derived 16 extinction curves having a range of A(V) (1.8-5.5) and R(V) values (2.4-4.3). Our sample includes two dense sightlines that have 3 micron ice feature detections and weak 2175 A bumps. The average A(lambda)/A(V) diffuse sightl…
On a galactic scale the 9.7um silicate emission is usually only seen in type 1 active galactic nuclei (AGNs). They usually also display a flat emission continuum at ~5--8um and the absence of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) emission bands. In contrast, starburst galaxies, luminous infrared (IR) galaxies (LIRGs), and ultraluminous IR galaxies (ULIRGs) exhibit a red 5--8um emission continuum, strong 10um and 18um silicate absorption features, and strong PAH emission bands. Here we report the detection of anomalous dust properties by Spitzer/Infrared Spectrograph in three galaxies (IRASF103…
Mid-Infrared (IR) silicate dust bands observed in heavily obscured active galactic nuclei (AGNs) include information on the mineralogical properties of silicate dust. We aim to investigate the mineralogical picture of the circumnuclear region of heavily obscured AGNs to reveal obscured AGN activities through the picture. In our previous study Tsuchikawa et al. (2021), we investigated the properties of silicate dust in heavily obscured AGNs focusing on the mineralogical composition and the crystallinity with Spitzer/IRS 5.3-12 micron spectra. In this study, we model the full-range Spitzer/IRS 5…
Absorption lines in the spectra of distant quasars whose sightlines pass through foreground galaxies provide a valuable tool to probe the dust and gas compositions of the interstellar medium (ISM) in galaxies. The first evidence of silicate dust in a quasar absorption system (QAS) was provided through our detection of the 10 micron silicate feature in the z=0.52 absorber toward the quasar AO 0235+164. We present results from 2 follow-up programs using archival Spitzer Space Telescope infrared spectra to study the interstellar silicate dust grain properties in a total of 13 QASs at 0.1<z<1.4. W…
The composition of silicate dust in the diffuse interstellar medium and in protoplanetary disks around young stars informs our understanding of the processing and evolution of the dust grains leading up to planet formation. Analysis of the well-known 9.7μm feature indicates that small amorphous silicate grains represent a significant fraction of interstellar dust and are also major components of protoplanetary disks. However, this feature is typically modelled assuming amorphous silicate dust of olivine and pyroxene stoichiometries. Here, we analyze interstellar dust with models of silicate du…
We present evidence of a >10-sigma detection of the 10 micron silicate dust absorption feature in the spectrum of the gravitationally lensed quasar PKS 1830-211, produced by a foreground absorption system at redshift 0.886. We have examined more than 100 optical depth templates, derived from both observations of Galactic and extragalactic sources and laboratory measurements, in order to constrain the chemical structure of the silicate dust. We find that the best fit to the observed absorption profile is produced by laboratory crystalline olivine, with a corresponding peak optical depth of tau_…
The processing of energetic photons on bare silicate grains was simulated experimentally on silicate films submitted to soft X-rays of energies up to 1.25 keV. The silicate material was prepared by means of a microwave assisted solgel technique. Its chemical composition reflects the Mg2SiO4 stoichiometry with residual impurities due to the synthesis method. The experiments were performed using the spherical grating monochromator beamline at the National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center in Taiwan. We found that soft X-ray irradiation induces structural changes that can be interpreted as an…
In dense molecular clouds, interstellar grains are covered by mantles of iced molecules. The formation of the grain mantles has two important consequences: it removes species from the gas phase and promotes the synthesis of new molecules on the grain surfaces. The composition of the mantle is a strong function of the environment which the cloud belongs to. Therefore, clouds in high-zeta galaxies, where conditions -like temperature, metallicity and cosmic rays flux- are different from those in the Milky Way, will have different grain mantles. In the last years, several authors have suggested th…
The unification theory of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) hypothesizes that all AGNs are surrounded by an anisotropic dust torus and are essentially the same objects but viewed from different angles. However, little is known about the dust which plays a central role in the unification theory. There are suggestions that the AGN dust extinction law appreciably differs from that of the Galaxy. Also, the silicate emission features observed in type 1 AGNs appear anomalous (i.e., their peak wavelengths and widths differ considerably from that of the Galaxy). In this work, we explore the dust propertie…
Cold dust grains emission in the FIR/submm is usually expressed as a modified black body law in which the dust mass absorption coefficient (MAC), is described with a temperature- and wavelength-independent emissivity spectral index, beta. However, numerous data from space and balloon-born missions and recently from Herschel and Planck show that dust emission is not well understood, as revealed by the observed anti-correlation of beta with the grain temperature. In order to give astronomers the necessary data to interpret FIR/submm observations, we synthesised analogues of interstellar amorphou…
The large majority of extinction sight lines in our Galaxy obey a simple relation depending on one parameter, the total-to-selective extinction coefficient, Rv. Different values of Rv are able to match the whole extinction curve through different environments so characterizing normal extinction curves. In this paper more than sixty curves with large ultraviolet deviations from their best-fit one parameter curve are analyzed. These curves are fitted with dust models to shed light into the properties of the grains, the processes affecting them, and their relations with the environmental characte…
We investigate the dust growth in oxygen-rich stellar outflows for a set of nine well-observed massive supergiants with optically thin dust shells. Models of the infrared emission from their circumstellar dust shells are compared to their observed infrared spectra so as to derive the essential parameters that govern dust formation in the extended envelope of these stars. The results obtained from the comparative study are also compared with the predictions of a model for silicate dust condensation solely based on laboratory data and basic stellar properties. The infrared emission in the wavele…
We present infrared multi-epoch observations of the dust forming nova V1280 Sco over $\sim$2000 days from the outburst. The temporal evolution of the infrared spectral energy distributions at 1272, 1616 and 1947 days can be explained by the emissions produced by amorphous carbon dust of mass (6.6--8.7)$\times$10$^{-8}$M$_{\odot}$ with a representative grain size of 0.01$~μ$m and astronomical silicate dust of mass (3.4--4.3)$\times$10$^{-7}$M$_{\odot}$ with a representative grain size of 0.3--0.5$~μ$m. Both of these dust species travel farther away from the white dwarf without an apparent mass …
To model the cold dust emission observed in the diffuse interstellar medium, in dense molecular clouds or in cold clumps that could eventually form new stars, it is mandatory to know the physical and spectroscopic properties of this dust and to understand its emission. This work is a continuation of previous studies aiming at providing astronomers with spectroscopic data of realistic cosmic dust analogues for the interpretation of observations. Ferromagnesium amorphous silicate dust analogues were produced with a mean composition close to $\mathrm{Mg_{1-x}Fe_{x}SiO_3}$ with x = 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, …
Cosmic dust models are key ingredients in advancing our understanding of astronomical environments as diverse as interstellar clouds in galaxies, circumstellar envelopes around evolved and young stars, and protoplanetary disks. Such models consist of several dust populations, each with different compositions and size distributions. They may also consider different grain shapes, although most models assume spherical grains. All include a component of silicate dust. The absorption and emission properties of these dust components are calculated from the optical constants of each dust material whi…
Heavily obscured active galactic nuclei (AGNs) are known to show deep silicate absorption features in the mid-infrared (IR) wavelength range of 10--20~$μ$m. The detailed profiles of the features reflect the properties of silicate dust, which are likely to include information on AGN activities obscured by large amounts of dust. In order to reveal AGN activities obscured by large amounts of dust, we select 115 mid-IR spectra of heavily obscured AGNs observed by Spitzer/IRS, and systematically analyze the composition of silicate dust by spectral fitting using the 10~$μ$m amorphous and 23~$μ$m cry…
We modelled dust grain-size distributions for carbonaceous and silicates dust, as well as for free-flying iron nanoparticles in the environment of a $γ$-ray burst (GRB) afterglow, GRB 180325A. This GRB, at $z=2.2486$, has an unambiguous detection of the 2175 Å extinction feature with $R_V=4.58$ and $A_V=1.58$. In addition to silicates, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), and graphite, we used iron nanoparticles grain-size distributions for the first time to model the observed extinction curve of GRB 180325A. We fit the observed extinction for four model permutations, using 232 sets of sili…
Understanding the history and evolution of small bodies, such as dust grains and comets, in planet-forming disks is very important to reveal the architectural laws responsible for the creation of planetary systems. These small bodies in cold regions of the disks are typically considered as mixtures of dust particles with molecular ices, where ices cover the surface of a dust core or are actually physically mixed with dust. Whilst the first case, ice-on-dust, has been intensively studied in the laboratory in recent decades, the second case, ice-mixed-with-dust, present uncharted territory. This…
The H2 molecule has two nuclear spin isomers, the so-called ortho and para isomers. Nuclear spin conversion (NSC) between these states is forbidden in the gas phase. The energy difference between the lowest ortho and para states is as large as 14.7 meV, corresponding to ~170 K. Therefore, each state of H2 differently affects not only the chemistry but also the macroscopic gas dynamics in space, and thus, the ortho-to-para abundance ratio (OPR) of H2 has significant impacts on various astronomical phenomena. For a long time, the OPR of nascent H2 upon formation on dust grains has been assumed t…
The condensation of complex silicates with pyroxene and olivine composition at conditions prevailing in molecular clouds has been experimentally studied. For this purpose, molecular species comprising refractory elements were forced to accrete on cold substrates representing the cold surfaces of surviving dust grains in the interstellar medium. The efficient formation of amorphous and homogeneous magnesium iron silicates at temperatures of about 12 K has been monitored by IR spectroscopy. The gaseous precursors of such condensation processes in the interstellar medium are formed by erosion of …
The interstellar abundances of refractory elements indicate a substantial depletion from the gas phase, that increases with gas density. Our recent model of dust evolution, based on hydrodynamic simulations of the lifecycle of giant molecular clouds (GMCs) proves that the observed trend for [Si$_{gas}$/H] is driven by a combination of dust growth by accretion in the cold diffuse interstellar medium (ISM) and efficient destruction by supernova (SN) shocks (Zhukovska et al. 2016). With an analytic model of dust evolution, we demonstrate that even with optimistic assumptions for the dust input fr…
Depletion studies provide a way to understand the chemical composition of interstellar dust grains. We here examine 23 gamma-ray bursts (GRB) optical afterglow spectra (spanning 0.6<z<5.0) and compare their silicon and iron dust-phase column densities with different extinction curve parameters to study the composition of the interstellar dust grains in these high-redshift GRB host galaxies. The majority of our sample (87%) show featureless extinction curves and only vary in shape. We observe strong correlations (with >96% significance) between the total-to-selective extinction, R_V, and the du…
We explore the origin of mid-infrared (mid-IR) dust extinction in all 20 nearby (z < 0.05) bona-fide Compton-thick (N_H > 1.5 x 10^24 cm^-2) AGN with hard energy (E > 10 keV) X-ray spectral measurements. We accurately measure the silicate absorption features at lambda~9.7um in archival low-resolution (R~57-127) Spitzer Infrared Spectrograph (IRS) spectroscopy, and show that only a minority (~45%) of nearby Compton-thick AGN have strong Si-absorption features (S_9.7 = ln(f_{int}/f_{obs}) > 0.5) which would indicate significant dust attenuation. The majority (~60%) are star-formation dominated (…
A first taste of MEAD (Measuring Extinction and Abundances of Dust) -- I. Diffuse Milky Way interstellar dust extinction features in JWST infrared spectra
The \textit{Spitzer}/Infrared Spectrograph spectra of three spectroscopically anomalous galaxies (IRAS~F10398+1455, IRAS~F21013-0739 and SDSS~J0808+3948) are modeled in terms of a mixture of warm and cold silicate dust, and warm and cold carbon dust. Their unique infrared (IR) emission spectra are characterized by a steep $\simali$5--8$\mum$ emission continuum, strong emission bands from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) molecules, and prominent silicate emission. The steep $\simali$5--8$\mum$ emission continuum and strong PAH emission features suggest the dominance of starbursts, while th…
We present infrared (IR) and submillimeter observations of the Crab-like supernova remnant (SNR) G54.1+0.3 including 350 micron (SHARC-II), 870 micron (LABOCA), 70, 100, 160, 250, 350, 500 micron (Herschel) and 3-40 micron (Spitzer). We detect dust features at 9, 11 and 21 micron and a long wavelength continuum dust component. The 21 micron dust coincides with [Ar II] ejecta emission, and the feature is remarkably similar to that in Cas A. The IRAC 8 micron image including Ar ejecta is distributed in a shell-like morphology which is coincident with dust features, suggesting that dust has forme…
A wealth of data from the Herschel and Planck satellites and now from ALMA, revealing cold dust thermal emission, is available for astronomical environments ranging from interstellar clouds, cold clumps, circumstellar envelops, and protoplanetary disks. The interpretation of these observations relies on the understanding and modeling of cold dust emission and on the knowledge of the dust optical properties. The aim of this work is to provide astronomers with a set of spectroscopic data of realistic interstellar dust analogues that can be used to interpret the observations. Glassy silicates of …
Whether ice in cold cosmic environments is physically separated from the silicate dust or mixed with individual silicate moieties is not known. However, different grain models give very different compositions and temperatures of grains. The aim of the present study is a comparison of the mid-IR spectra of laboratory silicate-grains/water-ice mixtures with astronomical observations to evaluate the presence of dust/ice mixtures in interstellar and circumstellar environments. The laboratory data can explain the observations assuming reasonable mass-averaged temperatures for the protostellar envel…
We present polarisation spectra of seven stars in the lines-of-sight towards the Sco OB1 association. Our spectra were obtained within the framework of the Large Interstellar Polarization Survey carried out with the FORS instrument of the ESO VLT. We have modelled the wavelength-dependence of extinction and linear polarisation with a dust model for the diffuse interstellar medium which consists of a mixture of particles with size ranging from the molecular domain of 0.5 nm up to 350 nm. We have included stochastically heated small dust grains with radii between 0.5 and 6 nm made of graphite an…
6-14 micron Spitzer spectra obtained at 6 epochs between April 2005 and October 2008 are used to determine temporal changes in dust features associated with Sakurai's Object (V4334 Sgr), a low mass post-AGB star that has been forming dust in an eruptive event since 1996. The obscured carbon-rich photosphere is surrounded by a 40-milliarcsec torus and 32 arcsec PN. An initially rapid mid-infrared flux decrease stalled after 21 April 2008. Optically-thin emission due to nanometre-sized SiC grains reached a minimum in October 2007, increased rapidly between 21-30 April 2008 and more slowly to Oct…
Context. Although heavily obscured active galactic nuclei (AGNs) have been found by many observational studies, the properties of the surrounding dust are poorly understood. Using AKARI/IRC spectroscopy, we discover a new sample of a heavily obscured AGN in LEDA 1712304 which shows a deep spectral absorption feature due to silicate dust. Aims. We study the infrared (IR) spectral properties of circumnuclear silicate dust in LEDA 1712304. Methods. We perform IR spectral fitting, considering silicate dust properties such as composition, porosity, size and crystallinity. Spectral energy distributi…
We study the effect of variations in dust size distribution and composition on the correlation between the spectral shape of extinction (parameterized by $R_{\textrm{V}}$) and far-infrared dust emissivity (parameterized by the power-law index $β$). Starting from the size distribution models proposed by Weingartner & Draine (2001), using the dust absorption and emission properties derived by Laor & Draine (1993) for carbonaceous and silicate grains, and by Li & Draine (2001) for PAH grains, we calculate the extinction and compare it with the reddening vector derived by Schlafly et al. (2016). A…
To understand the evolution of extinction curve, we calculate the dust evolution in a galaxy using smoothed particle hydrodynamics simulations incorporating stellar dust production, dust destruction in supernova shocks, grain growth by accretion and coagulation, and grain disruption by shattering. The dust species are separated into carbonaceous dust and silicate. The evolution of grain size distribution is considered by dividing grain population into large and small gains, which allows us to estimate extinction curves. We examine the dependence of extinction curves on the position, gas densit…
We aim at assessing what are the most dominant dust species or types, including silicate and iron oxide grains present in the ISM, by using recent observations of dust depletion of galaxies at various evolutionary stages. We use the observed elemental abundances in dust of several metals (O, S, Si, Mg, and Fe) in different environments, considering systems with different metallicities and dust content, namely damped Lyman-α absorbers (DLAs) towards quasars and the Galaxy. We derive a possible dust composition by computationally finding the statistically expected elemental abundances in dust as…
Core-collapse supernovae can condense large masses of dust post-explosion. However, sputtering and grain-grain collisions during the subsequent passage of the dust through the reverse shock can potentially destroy a significant fraction of the newly formed dust before it can reach the interstellar medium. Here we show that in oxygen-rich supernova remnants like Cassiopeia A the penetration and trapping within silicate grains of the same impinging ions of oxygen, silicon and magnesium that are responsible for grain surface sputtering can significantly reduce the net loss of grain material. We m…
The discoveries of huge amounts of dust and unusual extinction curves in high-redshift quasars (z > 4) cast challenging issues on the origin and properties of dust in the early universe. In this Letter, we investigate the evolutions of dust content and extinction curve in a high-z quasar, based on the dust evolution model taking account of grain size distribution. First, we show that the Milky-Way extinction curve is reproduced by introducing a moderate fraction (~0.2) of dense molecular-cloud phases in the interstellar medium for a graphite-silicate dust model. Then we show that the peculier …
We present a new analysis of the infrared (IR) emission from the ejecta of SN1987A covering days 615, 775, 1144, 8515, and 9090 after the explosion. We show that the observations are consistent with the rapid formation of about 0.4 Msun of dust, consisting of mostly silicates, near day 615, and evolving to about 0.45 Msun of composite dust grains consisting of ~0.4 Msun of silicates and ~ 0.05 Msun of amorphous carbon after day ~8500. The proposed scenario challenges previous claims that dust in SN ejecta is predominantly carbon, and that it grew from an initial mass of ~1e-3 Msun, to over 0.5…
The motion of diamagnetic dust particles in interstellar magnetic fields is studied numerically with several different sets of parameters. Two types of behavior are observed, depending on the value of the critical number $R$, which is a function of the grain inertia, the magnetic susceptibility of the material and of the strength of rotation braking. If $R\leq10$, the grain ends up in a static state and perfectly aligned with the magnetic field, after a few braking times. If not, it goes on precessing and nutating about the field vector for a much longer time. Usual parameters are such that th…
Recent space missions have provided information on the physical and chemical properties of interstellar grains such as the ratio $β$ of radiation pressure to gravity acting on the grains in addition to the composition, structure, and size distribution of the grains. Numerical simulation on the trajectories of interstellar grains captured by Stardust and returned to Earth constrained the $β$ ratio for the Stardust samples of interstellar origin. However, recent accurate calculations of radiation pressure cross sections for model dust grains have given conflicting stories in the $β$ ratio of int…
We formulate and calculate the evolution of dust in a galaxy focusing on the distinction among various dust components -- silicate, aromatic carbon, and non-aromatic carbon. We treat the galaxy as a one-zone object and adopt the evolution model of grain size distribution developed in our previous work. We further include aromatization and aliphatization (inverse reaction of aromatization). We regard small aromatic grains in a radius range of 3--50 Å as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). We also calculate extinction curves in a consistent manner with the abundances of silicate and aromati…
