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At least 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1995

Toward the detection of pure carbon clusters in the Interstellar Medium (ISM)

Determination of the form and distribution of carbon in the universe is critical to understanding the origin of life on Earth and elsewhere. Two potentially large reservoirs of carbon in the interstellar medium (ISM) remain unexplored. These are polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and pure carbon clusters. Little information exists on the structures, properties, and transition frequencies of pure carbon clusters. The work described is designed to provide a specific inventory of laboratory frequencies and physical properties of this carbon clusters so that efforts can be made to detect them in cold interstellar sources by far-infrared astronomy. Data is given from infrared laser spectroscopy determination of the structure of C3, C4, C5, C6, C7, and C9.

Heath, J. R.↗
NASA NTRS2001

Organic Signature of Dust from the Interstellar Medium (ISM)

Dust in the ISM carries an "organic" signature in form of a distinct group of C-H stretching bands, both in emission and absorption, around 3.4 micrometers. These bands agree with the symmetrical and asymmetrical C-H stretching vibrations of aliphatic -CH2- entities and are thought to be associated with organic molecules on the surface of dust grains. We show that this interpretation is inconsistent with laboratory experiments. Synthetic MgO and natural olivine single crystals, grown from a CO/CO2/H2O-saturated melt, exhibit the same C-H stretching bands but those bands are clearly associated with C-H entities inside the dense mineral matrix. The multitude of C-H stretching bands suggests that the C-H bonds arise from polyatomic C(sub n) entities. We heated the MgO and olivine crystals to temperatures between 550-1000 K to pyrolyze the C-H bonds and to cause the C-H stretching bands to disappear. Upon annealing at moderate temperatures between 300-390 K the C-H stretching bands reappear within a few days to weeks. The C-H stretching band intensity increases linearly with the square root of time. Thus, while the pyrolysis broke the C-H bonds and caused the H to disperse in the mineral matrix, the H atoms (or H2 molecules) are sufficiently mobile to return during annealing and reestablish the C-H bonds. Dust grains that condense in a gas-laden environment (outflow of late-stage stars or in dense molecular clouds) probably incorporate the same type of Cn-H entities. Imbedded in and in part bonded to the surrounding mineral matrix, the Cn-H entities display C-H stretching bands in the 3.4 micrometer region, but their lower frequency librational modes are so strongly coupled to the lattice modes that they broaden excessively and thus become unobservable.

Freund, Friedemann↗
NASA NTRS1990

Current star formation in S0 galaxies: NGC 4710

Elliptical (E) and lenticular (S0) galaxies lack the substantial interstellar medium (ISM) found in the star-forming spiral galaxies. However, significant numbers of E and S0 galaxies are known to contain detectable amounts of interstellar matter (e.g., Jura 1988). Thus, it is worth investigating whether these galaxies are currently able to form stars from their ISM, or whether they should be consigned to the dustbin of inert objects (Thronson and Bally 1987). The results strongly imply that current star formation is responsible for NGC 4710's far infrared and radio continuum properties. If this is indeed the case, then one expects this star formation to be fueled by molecular gas, which is presumably dominated by H2 and can be traced by the CO-12 J=1 to 0 line. Both Kenney and Young (1988) and Sage and Wrobel (1989) have detected such an emission line from NGC 4710, and infer the presence of more than 10(exp 8) solar mass of H2. The origin of the molecular gas in NGC 4710 remains a mystery. The galaxy is very deficient in HI (Kenney and Young, in preparation), suggesting that it originally was a spiral galaxy from which the outer, mainly atomic, gas was stripped by the ram pressure of the Virgo Cluster's intracluster medium, leaving only a central interstellar medium (ISM) rich in molecular gas. Alternatively, the CO may have originated via stellar mass loss with subsequent cooling, cooling flows, or capture from a gas-rich companion. Information on the morphology and kinematics of the CO can be compared with that of the galaxy's other gases and stars to distinguish among these various possible origins for the molecular gas. Major axis CO mapping with single dishes indicate an unresolved source. Thus, a millimeter array is currently being used to image NGC 4710 in CO to provide the needed morphological and kinematical data.

Wrobel, J. M.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Stochastic histories of dust grains in the interstellar medium

The purpose is to study an evolving system of refractory dust grains within the Interstellar Medium (ISM). This is done via a combination of Monte Carlo processes and a system of partial differential equations, where refractory dust grains formed within supernova remnants and ejecta from high mass loss stars are subjected to the processes of sputtering and collisional fragmentation in the diffuse media and accretion within the cold molecular clouds. In order to record chemical detail, the authors take each new particle to consist of a superrefractory core plus a more massive refractory mantle. The particles are allowed to transfer to and fro between the different phases of the interstellar medium (ISM) - on a time scale of 10(exp 8) years - until either the particles are destroyed or the program finishes at a Galaxy time of 6x10(exp 9) years. The resulting chemical and size spectrum(s) are then applied to various astrophysical problems with the following results. For an ISM which has no collisional fragmentation of the dust grains, roughly 10 percent by mass of the most refractory material survives the rigors of the ISM intact, which leaves open the possibility that fossilized isotopically anomalous material may have been present within the primordial solar nebula. Stuctured or layered refractory dust grains within the model cannot explain the observed interstellar depletions of refractory material. Fragmentation due to grain-grain collisions in the diffuse phase plus the accretion of material in the molecular cloud phase can under certain circumstances cause a bimodal distribution in grain size.

Liffman, Kurt↗
NASA NTRS2004

Interstellar Dust Models

A viable interstellar dust model - characterized by the composition, morphology, and size distribution of the dust grains and by the abundance of the different elements locked up in the dust - should fit all observational constraints arising primarily from the interactions of the dust with incident radiation or the ambient gas. As a minimum, these should include the average interstellar extinction, the infrared emission from the diffuse interstellar medium (ISM), and the observed interstellar abundances of the various refractory elements. The last constraint has been largely ignored, resulting in dust models that require more elements to be in the dust phase than available in the ISM. In this talk I will describe the most recent advances towards the construction of a comprehensive dust model made by Zubko, Dwek, and Arendt, who, for the first time, included the interstellar abundances as explicit constraints in the construction of interstellar dust models. The results showed the existence of many distinct models that satisfy the basic set of observational constraints, including bare spherical silicate and graphite particles, PAHs, as well as spherical composite particles containing silicate, organic refractories, water ice, and voids. Recently, a new interstellar dust constituent has emerged, consisting of metallic needles. These needles constitute a very small fraction of the interstellar dust abundance, and their existence is primarily manifested in the 4 to 8 micron wavelength region, where they dominate the interstellar extinction. Preliminary studies show that these models may be distinguished by their X-ray halos, which are produced primarily by small angle scattering off large dust particles along the line of sight to bright X-ray sources, and probe dust properties largely inaccessible at other wavelengths.

Dwek, Eli↗
NASA NTRS2005

Cooked GEMS - Insights into the Hot Origins of Crystalline Silicates in Circumstellar Disks and the Cold Origins of GEMS

The comparison of interstellar, circumstellar and primitive solar nebula silicates has led to a significant conundrum in the understanding of the nature of solid materials that begin the planet forming processes. Crystalline silicates are found in circumstellar regions around young stars and also evolved stars ejecting particles into the interstellar medium (ISM) but they are not seen in the interstellar medium itself, the source material for star and planet formation. Crystalline silicates are minor to major components of all known early solar system materials that have been examined as meteorites or interplanetary dust samples. The strong presence of Mg-rich crystalline silicates in Oort cloud comets and their minor presence in some Kuiper belt comets is also indicated by 11.2 m peak in approx. 10 microns "silicate" infrared feature. This evidence strongly indicates that Mg-rich crystalline silicates were abundant components of the solar nebula disk out to at least 10 AU, and present out to 30 AU.

Brownlee, D. E.↗
NASA NTRS2003

Solar System Connections to the Organic Material In the ISM

The organic component of the interstellar medium (ISM) has relevance to the formation of the early solar nebula, since our solar system formed out of ISM material. Comparisons of near infrared spectra of the diffuse ISM dust with those of primitive solar system bodies (such as comets and meteorites) show a remarkable similarity, suggesting that perhaps some of the interstellar organic material made its way, unaltered, into our solar system. Tracing the interstellar organic material is necessary to understand how these materials may be important links in the development of prebiotic phenomena. Studies of the ISM reveal that the organic refractory component of the diffuse ISM is largely hydrocarbon in nature, possessing little N or O, with carbon distributed between the aromatic and aliphatic forms. There is a strong similarity in the near IR spectra of the diffuse ISM (the 3.4 micron hydrocarbon bands) and those seen in the Murchison and Orgueil meteorites, however, detailed comparisons at longer wavelengths reveal critical dissimilarities. Here we will present comparisons and discussion of relevant spectra. As we continue to explore, we will gain insight into the connection between planetesimals in the solar system and chemistry in the dusty space between the stars.

Pendleton, Yvonne J.↗
NASA NTRS1999

The Heliosphere and Beyond

The concept of the heliosphere as a quasi-spherical cavity in the surrounding interstellar medium (ISM) has a history at least as long as that of an extended solar corona and solar wind.

heliosphere solar wind interstellar medium (ISM)↗
NASA NTRS2014

Local ISM 3D Distribution and Soft X-ray Background Inferences for Nearby Hot Gas

Three-dimensional (3D) interstellar medium (ISM) maps can be used to locate not only interstellar (IS) clouds, but also IS bubbles between the clouds that are blown by stellar winds and supernovae, and are filled by hot gas. To demonstrate this, and to derive a clearer picture of the local ISM, we compare our recent 3D IS dust distribution maps to the ROSAT diffuse Xray background maps after removal of heliospheric emission. In the Galactic plane, there is a good correspondence between the locations and extents of the mapped nearby cavities and the soft (0.25 keV) background emission distribution, showing that most of these nearby cavities contribute to this soft X-ray emission. Assuming a constant dust to gas ratio and homogeneous 106 K hot gas filling the cavities, we modeled in a simple way the 0.25 keV surface brightness along the Galactic plane as seen from the Sun, taking into account the absorption by the mapped clouds. The data-model comparison favors the existence of hot gas in the solar neighborhood, the so-called Local Bubble (LB). The inferred mean pressure in the local cavities is found to be approx.9,400/cu cm K, in agreement with previous studies, providing a validation test for the method. On the other hand, the model overestimates the emission from the huge cavities located in the third quadrant. Using CaII absorption data, we show that the dust to CaII ratio is very small in those regions, implying the presence of a large quantity of lower temperature (non-X-ray emitting) ionized gas and as a consequence a reduction of the volume filled by hot gas, explaining at least part of the discrepancy. In the meridian plane, the two main brightness enhancements coincide well with the LB's most elongated parts and chimneys connecting the LB to the halo, but no particular nearby cavity is found towards the enhancement in the direction of the bright North Polar Spur (NPS) at high latitude. We searched in the 3D maps for the source regions of the higher energy (0.75 keV) enhancements in the fourth and first quadrants. Tunnels and cavities are found to coincide with the main bright areas, however no tunnel nor cavity is found to match the low-latitude b > or approx. 8deg, brightest part of the NPS. In addition, the comparison between the 3D maps and published spectral data favors a NPS central source region location beyond 230 pc, i.e. at larger distance than usually considered. Those examples illustrate the potential use of more detailed 3D distributions of the nearby ISM for the interpretation of the diffuse soft X-ray background.

Xray Emission↗
NASA NTRS1996

Complex Molecules in the Interstellar Medium

A brief review of the current state of knowledge concerning the composition of complex molecules in the interstellar medium (ISM) is given. The materials in interstellar dense molecular clouds is also discussed. As well as the formation of stars and planetary systems. A concentration on solids are addressed, because they contain a major fraction of the heavier elements in these clouds and because these materials are the most likely to survive incorporation into new planetary systems and participate in the subsequent formation and evolution of life. However, dense clouds are not well-defined, long-lived entities but are dynamic objects that are formed from materials in the diffuse ISM and destroyed on time scales of 10(exp 6)-10(exp 8) years. As a result, materials in space are probably constantly being mixed between the dense ISM and the more diffuse intercloud ISM, and some discussion of the materials found in the diffuse ISM is also merited.

Sandford, Scott↗
NASA NTRS1990

Radiative magnetized thermal conduction fronts

The evolution of plane-parallel magnetized thermal conduction fronts in the interstellar medium (ISM) was studied. Separating the coronal ISM phase and interstellar clouds, these fronts have been thought to be the site of the intermediate-temperature regions whose presence was inferred from O VI absorption-line studies. The front evolution was followed numerically, starting from the initial discontinuous temperature distribution between the hot and cold medium, and ending in the final cooling stage of the hot medium. It was found that, for the typical ISM pressure of 4000 K/cu cm and the hot medium temperature of 10 to the 6th K, the transition from evaporation to condensation in a nonmagnetized front occurs when the front thickness is 15 pc. This thickness is a factor of 5 smaller than previously estimated. The O VI column densities in both evaporative and condensation stages agree with observations if the initial hot medium temperature Th exceeds 750,000 K. Condensing conduction fronts give better agreement with observed O VI line profiles because of lower gas temperatures.

Borkowski, Kazimierz J.↗
NASA NTRS2002

Star Formation In the Galaxy and the Fluctuating UV Radiation Field

We examine the formation of massive stars in the Galaxy, the resultant fluctuating UV (ultraviolet) radiation field, and the effect of this field on the star-forming interstellar medium. There are substantial fluctuations of the UV radiation field in space (scales of 100's of parsecs) and time (time-scales of order 100 million years). The FUV (far ultraviolet) (6 eV less than hv less than 13.6 eV) field and the pressure determines whether the thermal balance of the neutral gas results in cold clouds or warm (T approx. 10(exp 4) K) neutral medium. We show how to calculate the average fractions of the gas in the cold and warm phases when the interstellar gas is subject to this fluctuating FUV field. The knowledge of how these fractions depend on the gas properties and on the FUV sources is a basic step in building a model of the large scale behavior of the ISM (interstellar medium) and the mutual relation between the ISM and the star formation rate.

Hollenbach, David↗
NASA NTRS1994

Organic Material in the ISM

Spectra of objects which lie along several lines of sight through the diffuse interstellar medium (ISM) all contain an absorption feature near 3.4 micrometers which has been attributed to saturated aliphatic hydrocarbons on interstellar grains. The similarity of the absorption bands near 3.4 micrometers along different lines of sight reveal that the carrier of this band lies in the diffuse dust. Several materials have been proposed as "fits" to the 3.4 micrometers feature over the years. A comparison of these identifications is presented. A remarkable similarity between the spectrum of the diffuse dust and an organic extract from the Murchison meteorite suggests that some of the interstellar organic material may be preserved in primitive solar system bodies. The optical depth/extinction tau /A(sub v) ratio for the 3.4 micrometers band is higher toward the Galactic center than toward sources which sample the interstellar medium in the local neighborhood. A similar trend has been observed previously for silicates, indicating that the two materials may be simultaneously enhanced in the Galactic center.

Pendleton, Yvonne↗
NASA NTRS1989

Superaromatics: The key to a unified cosmic dust theory

The theory of Superaromatics, the key to a unified cosmic dust theory, was constructed by analyzing several thousand astronomical features covering every major aspect of astrophysics and astrochemistry relating to dust. To insure consistency between disciplines, the logical structure of the conclusions in each field was checked rather than accepting the current consensus. No substantial contradictory features are known to the author. The analysis falls into seven major parts: (1) kinetics of grain formation and destruction; (2) optical spectra of the interstellar medium (ISM); (3) meteorite interplanetary dust particle (IPD) chemistry; (4) structure and chemistry of the interstellar medium arising from surface catalysis; (6) dynamics of circumstellar and interstellar dust clouds, including galactic morphology; and (7) the chemistry and physics of previously unidentified compounds. Only tentative conclusions are presented here. The principle conclusion is that quantum mechanics as it is normally formulated is incomplete. The probable cause is that it is formulated with complex numbers rather than the more fundamental quaternion system. The manifestation in astrochemistry is that the most stable compounds are superaromatic and exotic enough to confound most classical analysis.

Manuel, Lawrence R.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Small-scale structure in the diffuse interstellar medium

The initial results of a study to probe the small-scale structure in the diffuse interstellar medium (ISM) through IUE and optical observations of interstellar absorption lines toward both components of resolvable binary stars is reported. The binaries (Kappa CrA, 57 Aql, 59 And, HR 1609/10, 19 Lyn, and Theta Ser) observed with IUE have projected linear separations ranging from 5700 to 700 Au. Except for Kappa CrA, the strengths of the interstellar absorption lines toward both components of these binaries agree to within 10 percent. In the case of Kappa CrA, the optically thin interstellar Mg I and Mn II lines are about 50 percent stronger toward Kappa-2 CrA than Kappa-1 CrA. Higher resolution observations of interstellar Ca II show that this difference is concentrated in the main interstellar component at V(LSR) = 9 + or - 2 km/s. Interestingly, this velocity corresponds to an intervening cloud that may be associated with the prominent Loop I shell in the local ISM. Given the separation (23 arcsec) and distance (120 pc) of Kappa CrA, the line strength variations indicate that this cloud has structure on scales of 2800 AU or less.

Meyer, David M.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Observational aspects of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon charging in the Interstellar Medium

We have investigated the charging processes which affect small carbonaceous dust grains and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH's). Because of their high abundance, interstellar PAH molecules can dominate the charge balance of the interstellar medium (ISM), which controls the heating and cooling interstellar gas and interstellar chemistry. We present the results of our model, which compare well with observations and suggest further applications to both laboratory measurements and data obtainable from the KAO.

Bakes, E. L. O.↗
NASA NTRS2002

Gas Phase Spectroscopy of Cold PAH Ions: Contribution to the Interstellar Extinction and the Diffuse Interstellar Bands

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon molecules (PAHs) are ubiquitous in the interstellar medium (ISM) and constitute the building blocks of interstellar dust grains. Despite their inferred important role in mediating the energetic and chemical processes in thc ISM, their exact contribution to the interstellar extinction, and in particular to the diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs) remains unclear. The DIBs are spectral absorption features observed in the line of sight of stars that are obscured by diffuse interstellar clouds. More than 200 bands have been reported to date spanning from the near UV to the near IR with bandwidths ranging from 0.4 to 40 Angstroms (Tielens & Snow 1995). The present consensus is that the DIBs arise from free flying, gas-phase, organic molecules and/or ions that are abundant under the typical conditions reigning in the diffuse ISM. PAHs have been proposed as possible carriers (Allamandola et al. 1985; Leger & DHendecourt 1985). The PAH hypothesis is consistent with the cosmic abundance of Carbon and Hydrogen and with the required photostability of the DIB carriers against the strong VUV radiation field in the diffuse interstellar clouds. A significant fraction of PAHs is expected to be ionized in the diffuse ISM.

Biennier, L.↗
NASA NTRS2005

From Astrochemistry to Astrobiology

Tremendous strides have been made in our understanding of interstellar material over the past twenty five years thanks to significant developments in observational astronomy and laboratory astrophysics. Twenty years ago the composition of interstellar dust was largely guessed at, the concept of ices in dense molecular clouds ignored, and the notion of large, abundant, gas phase, carbon-rich molecules widespread throughout the interstellar medium (ISM) considered impossible. Today the composition of interstellar dust is reasonably well understood. In molecular clouds, the birthplace of stars and planets, these cold dust particles are coated with mixed molecular ices whose composition is very well constrained. Lastly, the signature of carbon-rich polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), shockingly large molecules by early interstellar chemistry standards, is widespread throughout the Universe. The first part of this talk will describe how infrared spectroscopic studies of interstellar space, combined with laboratory simulations of interstellar ice chemistry, have revealed the widespread presence of interstellar PAHs and the composition of interstellar ices, the building blocks of comets. The remainder of the presentation will focus on the photochemical evolution of these materials and astrobiology. Within a molecular cloud, and especially the presolar nebula, materials frozen into the ices are photoprocessed by ultraviolet light and produce more complex molecules. As these materials are the building blocks of comets and related to carbonaceous micrometeorites, they are likely to have been important sources of complex materials delivered to the early Earth and their composition may be related to the origin of life.

Allamandola, L. J.↗