On the uncertainty of the transmission function of the optically thick AGB dust shells

Abstract

The uncertainty of the spectral transmission function due to the nonsphericity of cosmic dust particles is analysed for optically thick C-rich and O-rich dust shells. The transmission function directly prescribes the intensity of radiation that passes through a dust shell. It is shown that nonspherical particles affect the stellar spectra in a different way than a system of equally sized spherical particles. Discrepancies in the stellar spectra for both morphological models (spheres and irregular targets) grow with optical thickness of the dust shell and the spectral behaviour of the optical thickness depends on the particle size distribution function. In particular, two most frequently used distrubutions, a power law and Dirac’s delta function, are considered in the presented numerical runs. Light transmission through C-rich dust shells is strongly influenced by absorption which dominates in case of carbonaceous particles. Irregularly shaped carbonaceous particles reduce the intensity of stellar spectra more efficiently than spherical particles of the same composition (the difference is about 10–30%). MgO particles which may be present in O-rich dust shells are almost pure scatterers, thus the ratio of transmission functions for irregularly shaped particles and spherical ones show specific resonant features (especially at wavelengths below 0.4 μm).