Shape Of Extinction Curve Research Articles

Anisotropic Plasmonic Effect on Ag Nanoparticles under Microwave‐Induced Plasma‐in‐Liquid: Insight into Growth Mechanism

AbstractAnisotropic nanoparticles are a potential foundation for emerging materials engineering having anomalous properties often to an extraordinary degree‐enabling widespread new applications. In the bottom‐up approach, isotropic nanoparticles are formed by self‐assembly following the basic packing rule but lack directional interaction. On the other hand, anisotropic nanoparticles involve complex programmability having directional interaction and thus become of utmost interest in science and technology. In this paper, the anisotropic plasmonic effects in silver (Ag) nanoparticles under microwave‐induced plasma‐in‐liquid‐assisted decomposition of saccharides and di‐saccharides following the green chemistry process are investigated. The effect of microwave power, irradiation time, and relative chemical composition has been investigated in detail using extinction spectroscopy and Mie theory. The relationship between extinction curve shape parameter (S) and Mie theory has been established. The extinction spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) study confirm the existence of anisotropic plasmonic effects in Ag nanoparticles following two‐generation growth mechanisms having an average particle size of 2 and 32 nm. This technique offers rapid (20–40 sec) bulk production and is cost/energy effective than the conventional synthesis route.

Evolution of dust porosity through coagulation and shattering in the interstellar medium

ABSTRACT The properties of interstellar grains, such as grain size distribution and grain porosity, are affected by interstellar processing, in particular, coagulation and shattering, which take place in the dense and diffuse interstellar medium (ISM), respectively. In this paper, we formulate and calculate the evolution of grain size distribution and grain porosity through shattering and coagulation. For coagulation, we treat the grain evolution depending on the collision energy. Shattering is treated as a mechanism of forming small compact fragments. The balance between these processes are determined by the dense-gas mass fraction ηdense, which determines the time fraction of coagulation relative to shattering. We find that the interplay between shattering supplying small grains and coagulation forming porous grains from shattered grains is fundamentally important in creating and maintaining porosity. The porosity rises to 0.7–0.9 (or the filling factor 0.3–0.1) around grain radii $a\sim 0.1~\rm{\mu m}$. We also find that, in the case of ηdense = 0.1 (very efficient shattering with weak coagulation) porosity significantly enhances coagulation, creating fluffy submicron grains with filling factors lower than 0.1. The porosity enhances the extinction by 10–20 per cent at all wavelengths for amorphous carbon and at ultraviolet wavelengths for silicate. The extinction curve shape of silicate becomes steeper if we take porosity into account. We conclude that the interplay between shattering and coagulation is essential in creating porous grains in the interstellar medium and that the resulting porosity can impact the grain size distributions and extinction curves.

Probing the missing link between the diffuse interstellar bands and the total-to-selective extinction ratio $R_V\,\!-\!$ I. Extinction versus reddening

ABSTRACT The carriers of the still (mostly) unidentified diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs) have been a long-standing mystery ever since their first discovery exactly 100 yr ago. In recent years, the ubiquitous detection of a large number of DIBs in a wide range of Galactic and extragalactic environments has led to renewed interest in connecting the occurrence and properties of DIBs to the physical and chemical conditions of the interstellar clouds, with particular attention paid to whether the DIB strength is related to the shape of the interstellar extinction curve. To shed light on the nature and origin of the DIB carriers, we investigate the relation between the DIB strength and RV, the total-to-selective extinction ratio, which characterizes how the extinction varies with wavelength (i.e. the shape of the extinction curve). We find that the DIB strength and RV are not related if we represent the strength of a DIB by its reddening-normalized equivalent width (EW), in contrast to the earlier finding of an anticorrelation in which the DIB strength is measured by the extinction-normalized EW. This raises a fundamental question about the appropriate normalization for the DIB EW. We argue that the hydrogen column density is a more appropriate normalization than extinction and reddening.

The Small Magellanic Cloud Investigation of Dust and Gas Evolution (SMIDGE): The Dust Extinction Curve from Red Clump Stars

Abstract We use Hubble Space Telescope (HST) observations of red clump stars taken as part of the Small Magellanic Cloud Investigation of Dust and Gas Evolution (SMIDGE) program to measure the average dust extinction curve in a ∼200 pc × 100 pc region in the southwest bar of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). The rich information provided by our eight-band ultraviolet through near-infrared photometry allows us to model the color–magnitude diagram of the red clump accounting for the extinction curve shape, a log-normal distribution of A V , and the depth of the stellar distribution along the line of sight. We measure an extinction curve with . This measurement is significantly larger than the equivalent values of published Milky Way (MW) R V = 3.1 ( ) and SMC Bar R V = 2.74 ( ) extinction curves. Similar extinction curve offsets in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) have been interpreted as the effect of large dust grains. We demonstrate that the line-of-sight depth of the SMC (and LMC) introduces an apparent “gray” contribution to the extinction curve inferred from the morphology of the red clump. We show that no gray dust component is needed to explain extinction curve measurements when FWHM depth of 10 ± 2 kpc in the stellar distribution of the SMC (5 ± 1 kpc for the LMC) is considered, which agrees with recent studies of Magellanic Cloud stellar structure. The results of our work demonstrate the power of broadband HST imaging for simultaneously constraining dust and galactic structure outside the MW.

THE MILKY WAY TOMOGRAPHY WITH SLOAN DIGITAL SKY SURVEY. IV. DISSECTING DUST

We use SDSS photometry of 73 million stars to simultaneously obtain best-fit main-sequence stellar energy distribution (SED) and amount of dust extinction along the line of sight towards each star. Using a subsample of 23 million stars with 2MASS photometry, whose addition enables more robust results, we show that SDSS photometry alone is sufficient to break degeneracies between intrinsic stellar color and dust amount when the shape of extinction curve is fixed. When using both SDSS and 2MASS photometry, the ratio of the total to selective absorption, $R_V$, can be determined with an uncertainty of about 0.1 for most stars in high-extinction regions. These fits enable detailed studies of the dust properties and its spatial distribution, and of the stellar spatial distribution at low Galactic latitudes. Our results are in good agreement with the extinction normalization given by the Schlegel et al. (1998, SFD) dust maps at high northern Galactic latitudes, but indicate that the SFD extinction map appears to be consistently overestimated by about 20% in the southern sky, in agreement with Schlafly et al. (2010). The constraints on the shape of the dust extinction curve across the SDSS and 2MASS bandpasses support the models by Fitzpatrick (1999) and Cardelli et al. (1989). For the latter, we find an $R_V=3.0\pm0.1$(random) $\pm0.1$(systematic) over most of the high-latitude sky. At low Galactic latitudes (|b|<5), we demonstrate that the SFD map cannot be reliably used to correct for extinction as most stars are embedded in dust, rather than behind it. We introduce a method for efficient selection of candidate red giant stars in the disk, dubbed "dusty parallax relation", which utilizes a correlation between distance and the extinction along the line of sight. We make these best-fit parameters, as well as all the input SDSS and 2MASS data, publicly available in a user-friendly format.

LIFTING THE DUSTY VEIL WITH NEAR- AND MID-INFRARED PHOTOMETRY. II. A LARGE-SCALE STUDY OF THE GALACTIC INFRARED EXTINCTION LAW

We combine near-infrared (2MASS) and mid-infrared (Spitzer-IRAC) photometry to characterize the IR extinction law (1.2-8 microns) over nearly 150 degrees of contiguous Milky Way midplane longitude. The relative extinctions in 5 passbands across these wavelength and longitude ranges are derived by calculating color excess ratios for G and K giant red clump stars in contiguous midplane regions and deriving the wavelength dependence of extinction in each one. Strong, monotonic variations in the extinction law shape are found as a function of angle from the Galactic center, symmetric on either side of it. These longitudinal variations persist even when dense interstellar regions, known a priori to have a shallower extinction curve, are removed. The increasingly steep extinction curves towards the outer Galaxy indicate a steady decrease in the absolute-to-selective extinction ratio (R_V) and in the mean dust grain size at greater Galactocentric angles. We note an increasing strength of the 8 micron extinction inflection at high Galactocentric angles and, using theoretical dust models, show that this behavior is consistent with the trend in R_V. Along several lines of sight where the solution is most feasible, A_lambda/A_Ks as a function of Galactic radius is estimated and shown to have a Galactic radial dependence. Our analyses suggest that the observed relationship between extinction curve shape and Galactic longitude is due to an intrinsic dependence of the extinction law on Galactocentric radius.

Interstellar gas, dust and diffuse bands in the SMC

Aims. In order to gain new insight into the unidentified identity of the diffuse interstellar band (DIB) carriers, this paper describes research into possible links between the shape of the interstellar extinction curve (including the 2175 A bump and far-UV rise), the presence or absence of DIBs, and physical and chemical conditions of the diffuse interstellar medium (gas and dust) in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). Methods. We searched for DIB absorption features in VLT/UVES spectra of early-type stars in the SMC whose reddened lines-ofsight probe the diffuse interstellar medium of the SMC. Apparent column density profiles of interstellar atomic species (Na i ,K i ,C aii and Ti ii) are constructed to provide information on the distribution and conditions of the interstellar gas. Results. The characteristics of eight DIBs detected toward the SMC wing target AzV 456 are studied and upper limits are derived for the DIB equivalent widths toward the SMC stars AzV 398, AzV 214, AzV 18, AzV 65 and Sk 191. The amount of reddening is derived for these SMC sightlines, and, using RV and the H i column density, converted into a gas-to-dust ratio. From the atomic column density ratios we infer an indication of the strength of the interstellar radiation field, the titanium depletion level and a relative measure of turbulence/quiescence. The presence or absence of DIBs appears to be related to the shape of the extinction curve, in particular with respect to the presence or absence of the 2175 A feature. Our measurements indicate that the DIB characteristics depend on the local physical conditions and chemical composition of the interstellar medium of the SMC, which apparently determine the rate of formation (and/or) destruction of the DIB carriers. The UV radiation field (via photoionisation and photo-destruction) and the metallicity (i.e. carbon abundance) are important factors in determining diffuse band strengths which can differ greatly both between and within galaxies.

Correcting for the Effects of Interstellar Extinction

ABSTRACTThis paper addresses the issue of how best to correct astronomical data for the wavelength‐dependent effects of Galactic interstellar extinction. The main general features of extinction from the IR through the UV are reviewed, along with the nature of observed spatial variations. The enormous range of extinction properties found in the Galaxy, particularly in the UV spectral region, is illustrated. Fortunately, there are some tight constraints on the wavelength dependence of extinction and some general correlations between extinction curve shape and interstellar environment. These relationships provide some guidance for correcting data for the effects of extinction. Several strategies for dereddening are discussed along with estimates of the uncertainties inherent in each method. In the Appendix, a new derivation of the wavelength dependence of an average Galactic extinction curve from the IR through the UV is presented, along with a new estimate of how this extinction law varies with the parameter R≡A(V)/E(B−V). These curves represent the true monochromatic wavelength dependence of extinction and, as such, are suitable for dereddening IR–UV spectrophotometric data of any resolution and can be used to derive extinction relations for any photometry system.

The Dust‐to‐Gas Ratio in the Damped Lyα Clouds toward the Gravitationally Lensed QSO 0957+561

We present HST/FOS spectra of the two bright images (A and B) of the gravitationally lensed QSO 0957+561 in the wavelength range 2200-3300 A. We find that the absorption system (Z(sub abs)) = 1.3911) near z(sub em) is a weak, damped Ly alpha system with strong Ly alpha absorption lines seen in both images. However, the H(I) column densities are different, with the line of sight to image A intersecting a larger column density. The continuum shapes of the two spectra differ in the sense that the flux level of image A increases more slowly toward shorter wavelengths than that of image B. We explain this as the result of differential reddening by dust grains in the damped Ly alpha absorber. A direct outcome of this explanation is a determination of the dust-to-gas ratio, k, in the damped Ly alpha system. We derive k = 0.55 + 0.18 for a simple 1/lambda extinction law and k = 0.31 + 0.10 for the Galactic extinction curve. For gravitationally lensed systems with damped Ly alpha absorbers, our method is a powerful tool for determining the values and dispersion of k, and the shapes of extinction curves, especially in the FUV and EUV regions. We compare our results with previous work.

Measurements of Interstellar Extinction

The results of interstellar extinction measurements from the near IR to the far-UV are reviewed. The average interstellar extinction curve for the diffuse cloud medium exhibits a nearly linear rise (in 1/λ) from 1 μm−1 to the 2.25 μm−1 “knee” in extinction where the slope changes. In the UV there is a pronounced extinction bump near 4.6 μm−1 (2175 å) followed by a broad minimum and a steep rise in extinction to the shortest wavelengths for which measurements exist. For wavelengths shortward of about 5500 å, the interstellar extinction curve exhibits considerable variation in shape from one sight line to another. In addition to strength variations, the width (FWHM) of the 2175 å extinction bump has been observed to vary by more than a factor of two from 360 to 770 å with the average width being 480 å. In contrast, the central position of the feature only varies from 2110 å to 2195 å with the average central position being 2175 å. The most extreme variations in extinction are found at far-UV wavelengths where E(λ – V)/E(B – V) has been found to range from 3 to 12.5 at 1250 A. In the last few years significant progress has been made in determining various empirical relationships among extinction parameters in the different wavelength regimes and in determining how extinction curve shape changes are influenced by the interstellar environment in which the dust resides. Those relationships are discussed.

Diffuse Interstellar Bands – The Unidentified Part of the Interstellar Absorption Spectrum

The unidentified (since 1921) diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs) are discussed together with their relations to other interstellar absorptions sucn as: continuous extinction, polarization and atomic or molecular absorption lines. It is shown that DIBs do not form the absorption spectrum of one agent, but probably of several (3 or more). DIBs as well as other interstellar absorptions are usually formed in several clouds along a line-of-sight. Thus, they suffer Doppler splitting; the first high resolution profiles free of the latter effect are described. Since single interstellar clouds may differ not only in radial velocities but also in many physical (optical) parameters, the observed interstellar absorptions are ill-defined averages over all clouds situated along any line-of-sight. It is of basic importance to determine not only the single cloud profiles of diffuse bands, but also their relations to other interstellar absorptions in the same clouds. Intensity ratios of DIBs are shown to be sensitive to the shapes of extinction curves, depletion patterns of elements and molecular abundances in the considered clouds. The sensitivity of the DIBs to the variation in polarization is less documented but probably also present. Thus the diffuse lines are presented as the unidentified part of the absorption spectrum of interstellar matter. Their identification depends on the determination of their relations to other interstellar absorptions which must be determined precisely.

A catalog of ultraviolet interstellar extinction excesses for 1415 stars

Ultraviolet interstellar extinction excesses are presented for 1415 stars with spectral types B7 and earlier. The excesses with respect to V are derived from Astronomical Netherlands Satellite (ANS) 5-channel UV photometry at central wavelengths of approximately 1550, 1800, 2500, and 3300 A. A measure of the excess extinction in the 2200-A extinction bump is also given. The data are valuable for investigating the systematics of peculiar interstellar extinction and for studying the character of UV interstellar extinction in the general direction of stars for which the extinction-curve shape is unknown.