Silicate Emission Research Articles

Silicate Extinction Profile Based on the Stellar Spectrum by Spitzer/IRS

The 9.7 and 18 μm interstellar spectral features, arising from the Si–O stretching and O–Si–O bending modes of amorphous silicate dust, are the strongest extinction features in the infrared. Here we use the “pair method” to determine the silicate extinction profile by comparing the Spitzer/IRS spectra of 49 target stars with obvious extinction with those of unreddened stars of the same spectral type. The 9.7 μm extinction profile is determined from all the 49 stars and the 18 μm profile is determined from six stars. It is found that the profile has a peak wavelength at ∼9.2–9.8 and ∼18–22 μm, respectively. The peak wavelength of the 9.7 μm feature seems to become shorter for stars of late spectral types; meanwhile the FWHM seems irrelevant to the spectral type, which may be related to circumstellar silicate emission. The silicate optical depth at 9.7 μm, Δτ 9.7, mostly increases with the color excess in J − K S ( EJKS ). The mean ratio of the visual extinction to the 9.7 μm silicate absorption optical depth is A V /Δτ 9.7 ≈ 17.8, in close agreement with that of the solar-neighborhood diffuse interstellar medium. When EJKS>4 , this proportionality changes. The correlation coefficient between the peak wavelength and the FWHM of the 9.7 μm feature is 0.4, which indicates a positive correlation considering the uncertainties of the parameters. The method is compared with replacing the reference star by an atmospheric model spectral energy distribution and no significant difference is observed.

The disk of the eruptive protostar V900 Mon

Aims. In this work, we study the silicate dust content in the disk of one of the youngest eruptive stars, V900 Mon, at the highest angular resolution, probing down to the inner 10 au of said disk, and study the historical evolution of the system, traced in part by a newly discovered emission clump. Methods. We performed high angular resolution MIR interferometric observations of V900 Mon with MATISSE/VLTI with a spatial coverage ranging from 38 to 130-m baselines, and compared them to archival MIDI/VLTI data. We also mined and re-analyzed archival optical and infrared photometry of the star to study its long-term evolution since its eruption in the 1990s. We complemented our findings with integral field spectroscopy data from MUSE/VLT. Results. The MATISSE/VLTI data suggest a radial variation in the silicate feature in the dusty disk, whereby at large spatial scales (≥10 au) the protostellar disk’s emission is dominated by large-sized (≥1μm) silicate grains, while at smaller spatial scales and closer to the star (≤5 au) silicate emission is absent, suggesting self-shielding. We propose that the self-shielding may be the result of small dust grains at the base of the collimated CO outflow previously detected by ALMA. A newly discovered knot in the MUSE/VLT data, located at a projected distance approximately 27 000 au from the star, is co-aligned with the molecular gas outflow at a P.A. of 250°(±5°) consistent with the position angle and inclination of the disk. The knot is seen in emission in Hα [N II], and the [S II] doublet and its kinematic age is about 5150 yr. This ejected material could originate from a previous eruption.

MIR Spectra and Analysis of Jovian Trojan Asteroids

Jovian Trojan asteroids make up a large group of primitive bodies that populate Jupiter's L4 and L5 Lagrange points. The Trojans’ dynamics and composition carry insight into the formation mechanisms that shaped our solar system. Mid-infrared (MIR; 5–35 μm) spectra of Trojans exhibit puzzling silicate emission features, like spectra of optically thin comet comae, which may be interpreted as “fluffy” regoliths. By understanding the physical properties of the regolith (e.g., particle size and regolith porosity), more accurate compositional interpretations can be made. Here we show 14 Spitzer Space Telescope MIR spectra of Trojans and their compositional makeup. Through parameterization of spectral features and comparison to laboratory and remote-sensing spectra, the results show that the Trojans have highly porous regoliths of fine-particulate crystalline (forsterite, enstatite, and possibly a small amount of fayalite and diopside) and amorphous silicates. These results are consistent with a primordial Kuiper Belt origin.

Imaging of exocomets with infrared interferometry

Active comets have been detected in several exoplanetary systems, although so far only indirectly, when the dust or gas in the extended coma has transited in front of the stellar disk. The large optical surface and relatively high temperature of an active cometary coma also makes it suitable to study with direct imaging, but the angular separation is generally too small to be reachable with present-day facilities. However, future imaging facilities with the ability to detect terrestrial planets in the habitable zones of nearby systems will also be sensitive to exocomets in such systems. Here we examine several aspects of exocomet imaging, particularly in the context of the Large Interferometer for Exoplanets (LIFE), which is a proposed space mission for infrared imaging and spectroscopy through nulling interferometry. We study what capabilities LIFE would have for acquiring imaging and spectroscopy of exocomets, based on simulations of the LIFE performance as well as statistical properties of exocomets that have recently been deduced from transit surveys. We find that for systems with extreme cometary activities such as β Pictoris, sufficiently bright comets may be so abundant that they overcrowd the LIFE inner field of view. More nearby and moderately active systems such as є Eridani or Fomalhaut may turn out to be optimal targets. If the exocomets have strong silicate emission features, such as in comet Hale-Bopp, it may become possible to study the mineralogy of individual exocometary bodies. We also discuss the possibility of exocomets as false positives for planets, with recent deep imaging of α Centauri as one hypothetical example. Such contaminants could be common, primarily among young debris disk stars, but should be rare among the main sequence population. We discuss strategies to mitigate the risk of any such false positives.

Identification and Parameter Determination of F-type Herbig Stars from LAMOST DR8

We identify 20 F-type Herbig stars and provide a list of 22 pre-main-sequence candidates from LAMOST DR8. The effective temperature, distance, extinction, stellar luminosity, mass, age, and radius are derived for each Herbig star based on optical spectra, photometry, Gaia EDR3 parallaxes, and pre-main-sequence evolutionary tracks. According to spectral energy distribution, 19 F-type Herbig stars belong to Class II YSOs, and one belongs to the flat-spectrum class. Four have Spitzer IRS spectra, of which three show extremely weak polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon emissions, and three with both amorphous and crystalline silicate emissions share similar parameters and are at the same evolutionary stage. We detect a solar-nearby outbursting EXor Herbig star J034344.48+314309.3, a possible precursor of a Herbig Ae star. Intense emission lines of H i, He i, O i, Na i, and Ca ii originating from the rapid accretion during the outbursts are detected in its optical spectra, and silicate emission features are detected in its infrared spectrum. We also conduct a statistical analysis of the disk properties of all known Herbig stars using the defined infrared spectral indices ( and ). The proportion of Herbig stars with moderate infrared excesses decreases as effective temperature increases. The majority of the precursors (F, G, or K type) have moderate infrared excesses. Hotter Herbig stars tend to have a larger proportion with large infrared excesses. The trends may be due to the fact that hotter stars have larger areas of re-emitting dust, although there is some scatter due to the particularities of each disk.

The VMC survey – XLIX. Discovery of a population of quasars dominated by nuclear dust emission behind the Magellanic Clouds

ABSTRACT Following the discovery of SAGE0536AGN (z ∼ 0.14), with the strongest 10-μm silicate emission ever observed for an active galactic nucleus (AGN), we discovered SAGE0534AGN (z ∼ 1.01), a similar AGN but with less extreme silicate emission. Both were originally mistaken as evolved stars in the Magellanic Clouds. Lack of far-infrared emission, and therefore star formation, implies we are seeing the central engine of the AGN without contribution from the host galaxy. They could be a key link in galaxy evolution. We used a dimensionality reduction algorithm, t-distributed stochastic neighbour embedding with multiwavelength data from Gaia EDR3, VISTA survey of the Magellanic Clouds, AllWISE, and the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder to find these two unusual AGNs are grouped with 16 other objects separated from the rest, suggesting a rare class. Our spectroscopy at South African Astronomical Observatory/Southern African Large Telescope and literature data confirm at least 14 of these objects are extragalactic (0.13 < z < 1.23), all hosting AGN. Using spectral energy distribution fitter C igale we find that the majority of dust emission ($\gt 70 {{\ \rm per\ cent}}$) in these sources is due to the AGN. Host galaxies appear to be either in or transitioning into the green valley. There is a trend of a thinning torus, increasing X-ray luminosity, and decreasing Eddington ratio as the AGN transition through the green valley, implying that as the accretion supply depletes, the torus depletes and the column density reduces. Also, the near-infrared variability amplitude of these sources correlates with attenuation by the torus, implying the torus plays a role in the variability.

Study of gold ore processing by flotation methods

The article deals with the studies of gold-bearing ore benefication by flotation methods. The object of the study is a low-sulfide gold-quartz type of ores with the following petrographic composition: quartz – 90 %, quartz-chlorite schists – 10 %. The ore from this deposit consists of the weathering crust rocks including iron-mica rocks with veins and spots of granoblastic quartz. The purpose of the research is to develop an optimal flotation regime for obtaining sulfide gold-bearing concentrate. The influence of ore size, reagent mode, flotation redistribution structure, and flotation time on operations was recorded during the experiment. The paper presents the results of studying the chemical composition of the ore by the method of silicate and optical emission analysis. The flotation process used butyl potassium xanthate as a collector and a combination of pine essential oils as a foaming agent. The Hancock concentration efficiency criterion was determined based on a series of experiments. The following technological indicators of ore processing were identified: gravity concentrate with the gold grade of 1165 g/t with the yield of 0.3 % and the recovery of 73.74 %; flotation concentrate (after purification II) with the gold grade of 68.9 g/t with the yield of 1.52 % and a recovery of 22.05 %. Its silver content was 15.9 g/t. The total gold recovery was 95.79 %, with the yield of 1.82 % and the gold grade of 249.9 g/t. The gold grade in the flotation tailings was 0.19 g/t.

A Study of the Dusty Disks and Shells around Post-RGB Stars in the LMC

A new class of dusty post-Red Giant Branch (post-RGB) stars has recently been identified in the Magellanic Clouds. Their spectral energy distributions (SEDs) suggest that their mass-ejecta are similar to dusty post-Asymptotic Giant Branch (post-AGB) stars. We modeled the SEDs of a select sample of post-RGB and post-AGB stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), quantified the total dust mass in the disks and shells and set rough constraints on the dust grain compositions and sizes. The shells were significantly more massive than the disks. Our models suggest that circumstellar disks, when present, are geometrically thick with a substantial opening angle, which is consistent with numerical simulations of CE evolution (CEE). Comparison of our model dust mass values with the predictions of dust production during CEE on the RGB suggest that CEE occurred near or at the tip of the RGB for the post-RGB sources in our sample. Amorphous silicate emission features at 10 and 18 μm are seen in the model spectra of several post-RGBs. A surprising result is that the ejected dust in certain post-RGB sources appears to be carbon-rich, thus, providing independent support for the hypothesis of binary interactions leading to the formation of dusty post-RGB objects.

Influence of the scattering particle shape on the SiO2 silicate feature

Silicate dust particles are part of many astronomical objects such as comets and circumstellar disks. In a spectrum, silicates exhibit a number of characteristic silicate emission features. To study these features, Mie’s theory is usually used. This theory assumes that the scattering object is an ideal sphere. In this work, we investigated the contribution of non-spherical quartz particles (SiO2) to these features. We studied the influence of the deviation from sphericity on the 10-micron silicate feature of quartz. It is shown that the deviation from sphericity has a significant effect on both the scattered light intensity and the scattering factor Qsca, and this effect increases with increasing scattering particle size. The main peculiarities of the 10-micron silicate feature have been studied for both prolate and oblate spheroids.

A new photometric study of B[e] stars in the infrared

Abstract We have collected almost all B[e] stars (120 stars in total) listed in the literature up to the present time. We have then photometrically studied their infrared properties by using data from IRAS, WISE, and 2MASS. From several two-color diagrams we found that infrared radiation for the majority of B[e] stars shows a power law distribution from dusty/gaseous circumstellar disks in the 1–60 μm region. We also found that, possibly due to the influence of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon and silicate emissions, some B[e] stars have a blackbody distribution in the 3–12 μm region, and due to the influence of clouds/nebulae nearby some B[e] stars also show blackbody distributions in the IRAS wavelengths. Furthermore, we compared infrared properties between B[e] stars and Be stars, and between B[e] stars and HAeBe stars. We show that the infrared excess of B[e] stars is much larger than for Be stars in the 1–25 μm region, while both B[e] and HAeBe stars have similar infrared color properties in the 1–25 μm region.

An update of the correlation between polarimetric and thermal properties of cometary dust

Context.Comets are conglomerates of ice and dust particles, the latter of which encode information on changes in the radiative and thermal environments. Dust displays distinctive scattered and thermal radiation in the visible and mid-infrared (MIR) wavelengths, respectively, based on its inherent characteristics.Aims.We aim to identify a possible correlation between the properties of scattered and thermal radiation from dust and the principal dust characteristics responsible for this relationship, and therefrom gain insights into comet evolution.Methods.We use the NASA/PDS archival polarimetric data on cometary dust in the red (0.62−0.73 μm) and K (2.00−2.39 μm) domains to leverage the relative excess of the polarisation degree of a comet to the average trend at the given phase angle (Pexcess) as a metric of the dust’s scattered light characteristics. The flux excess of silicate emissions to the continuum around 10 μm (FSi/Fcont) is adopted from previous studies as a metric of the dust’s MIR feature.Results.The two observables –PexcessandFSi/Fcont– show a positive correlation whenPexcessis measured in the K domain (Spearman’s rank correlation coefficientρ= 0.71−0.19+0.10). No significant correlation was identified in the red domain (ρ= 0.13−0.15+0.16). The gas-rich comets have systematically weakerFSi/Fcontthan the dust-rich ones, and yet both groups retain the same overall tendency with different slope values.Conclusions.The observed positive correlation between the two metrics indicates that composition is a peripheral factor in characterising the dust’s polarimetric and silicate emission properties. The systematic difference inFSi/Fcontfor gas-rich versus dust-rich comets would instead correspond to the difference in their dust size distribution. Hence, our results suggest that the current MIR spectral models of cometary dust, which search for a minimumχ2fit by considering various dust properties simultaneously, should prioritise the dust size and porosity over the composition. With light scattering being sensitive to different size scales in two wavebands, we expect the K-domain polarimetry to be sensitive to the properties of dust aggregates, such as size and porosity, which might have been influenced by evolutionary processes. On the other hand, the red-domain polarimetry reflects the characteristics of sub-micrometre constituents in the aggregate.

The post-Herschel view of intrinsic AGN emission: constructing templates for galaxy and AGN emission at IR wavelengths

ABSTRACT Measuring the star-forming properties of active galactic nucleus (AGN) hosts is key to our understanding of galaxy formation and evolution. However, this topic remains debated, partly due to the difficulties in separating the infrared (i.e. 1–1000 ${\rm \mu m}$) emission into AGN and star-forming components. Taking advantage of archival far-infrared data from Herschel, we present a new set of AGN and galaxy infrared templates and introduce the spectral energy distribution fitting code iragnsep. Both can be used to measure infrared host galaxy properties, free of AGN contamination. To build these, we used a sample of 100 local (z < 0.3), low-to-high luminosity AGNs (i.e. Lbol$\ \sim \ 10^{42-46}$ erg s−1), selected from the 105-month Swift–BAT X-ray survey, which have archival Spitzer–IRS spectra and Herschel photometry. We first built a set of seven galaxy templates using a sample of 55 star-forming galaxies selected via infrared diagnostics. Using these templates, combined with a flexible model for the AGN contribution, we extracted the intrinsic infrared emission of our AGN sample. We further demonstrate that we can reduce the diversity in the intrinsic shapes of AGN spectral energy distributions down to a set of three AGN templates, of which two represent AGN continuum, and one represents silicate emission. Our results indicate that, on average, the contribution of AGNs to the far-infrared (λ ≳ 50 ${\rm \mu m}$) is not as high as suggested by some recent work. We further show that the need for two infrared AGN continuum templates could be related to nuclear obscuration, where one of our templates appears dominated by the emission of the extended polar dust.

Mid-infrared photometry of the T Tauri triple system with kernel phase interferometry

Context. T Tauri has long been the prototypical young pre-main-sequence star. However, with increasing resolution and sensitivity, T Tauri has now been decomposed into a triple system with a complex disk and outflow geometry. Aims. We aim to measure the brightness of all three components of the T Tauri system (T Tau N, T Tau Sa, and T Tau Sb) in the mid-infrared in order to obtain photometry around the ∼9.7 μm silicate feature. This allows us to study their variability and to investigate the distribution of dust and the geometry of circumstellar and circumbinary disks in this complex system. Methods. We observe the T Tauri system with the Very Large Telescope (VLT)/VISIR-NEAR instrument, performing diffraction-limited imaging in the mid-infrared. With kernel phase interferometry post-processing of the data, and using the astrometric positions of all three components from VLT/SPHERE, we measure the three components’ individual brightnesses (including the southern binary at an angular separation down to ∼0.2λ/D) and obtain their photometry. In order to validate our methods, we simulate and recover mock data of the T Tauri system using the observed reference point-spread function of HD 27639. Results. We find that T Tau N is rather stable and shows weak silicate emission, while T Tau Sa is highly variable and shows prominent silicate absorption. T Tau Sb became significantly fainter compared to data from 2004 and 2006, suggesting increased extinction by dust. The precision of our photometry is limited by systematic errors in kernel phase interferometry, which is consistent with previous studies using this technique. Conclusions. Our results confirm the complex scenario of misaligned disks in the T Tauri system that had been observed previously, and they are in agreement with the recently observed dimming of T Tau Sb in the near-infrared. Our mid-infrared photometry supports the interpretation that T Tau Sb has moved behind the dense region of the Sa-Sb circumbinary disk on its tight orbit around Sa, therefore suffering increased extinction.

Влияние формы рассеивающих частиц на силикатную особенность SiO2

Частицы силикатной пыли являются частью многих астрономических объектов, таких как кометы и околозвездные диски. В спектре силикаты проявляют ряд характерных эмиссионных особенностей. Обычно для изучения этих силикатных особенностей используется теория Ми, предполагающая, что рассеивающий объект является идеальной сферой. В данной работе мы исследовали вклад несферических частиц кварца (SiO2) в эти особенности. Исследовано влияние отклонения от сферичности на 10-микронную силикатную особенность кварца. Показано, что отклонение от сферичности оказывает существенное влияние как на интенсивность рассеянного света, так и на фактор рассеяния Qsca, причем с увеличением размера рассеивающей частицы это влияние возрастает. Изучены основные особенности этого влияния как для вытянутых, так и для сплюснутых сфероидов.

Grain Growth in Newly Discovered Young Eruptive Stars*

Abstract FU Orionis–type stars are young stellar objects showing large outbursts due to highly enhanced accretion from the circumstellar disk onto the protostar. FU Orionis–type object (FUor) outbursts happen in a wide variety of sources from the very embedded ones to those with almost no sign of extended emission beyond the disk. The subsequent eruptions might gradually clear up the obscuring envelope material and drive the protostar on its way to become a disk-only T Tauri star. We used the Very Large Telescope (VLT)/VLT spectrometer and imager for the mid-infrared (VISIR) to obtain the first spectra that cover the 8–13 μm mid-infrared wavelength range in low resolution of five recently discovered FUors. Four objects from our sample show the 10 μm silicate feature in emission. We study the shape and strength of the silicate feature in these objects and find that they mostly contain large amorphous grains, suggesting that large grains are typically not settled to the midplane in FUor disks. This is a general characteristic of FUors, as opposed to regular T Tauri–type stars whose disks display anything from pristine small grains to significant grain growth. We classify our targets by determining whether the silicate feature is in emission or in absorption, and confront them with the evolutionary scenarios on the dispersal of the envelopes around young stars. In our sample, all Class II objects exhibit silicate emission, while for Class I objects, the appearance of the feature in emission or absorption depends on the viewing angle with respect to the outflow cavity. This highlights the importance of geometric effects when interpreting the silicate feature.

Molecular Gas and Dust Heating in Active Galaxies: Growing Black Holes or Tidal Shocks?

Abstract We investigate if and how growing supermassive black holes (SMBH) known as active galactic nuclei (AGN) and gravitational interactions affect the warm molecular gas and dust of galaxies. Our analysis focuses on the morphologies and warm ISM properties of 630 galaxies at z < 0.1. We use grizy images from the Pan-STARRS survey to classify the galaxies into mergers, early mergers, and non-mergers. We use MIR spectroscopic measurements of emission from rotational H2 transitions, dust, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) features, and silicate emission or absorption lines at 9.7 μm to study how gravitational interactions impact the warm ISM in AGN and non-AGN hosts. We find that in AGN-hosts, the ISM is warmer, the ratios of H2 to PAHs are larger, the PAH emission-line ratios and silicate strengths have a wider range of values than in non-AGN hosts. We find some statistical differences between the H2 emission of mergers and non-mergers, but those differences are less statistically significant than those between AGN and non-AGN hosts. Our results do not establish a relation between the rate of BH growth and the warm ISM but point to highly statistically significant differences between AGN hosts and non-AGN hosts, differences that are not present with the same statistical significance between mergers and non-mergers. We speculate that the combination of triggering mechanisms, AGN orientations, and evolutionary stages that allow AGN to be classified as such in the MIR indicate that those AGN are energetically coupled on kiloparsec scales to their host galaxies’s warm ISM. Future optical and IR, spatially resolved spectroscopic studies are best suited to characterize this connection.

Modeling the Strongest Silicate Emission Features of Local Type 1 AGNs

Abstract We measure the 10 and 18 μm silicate features in a sample of 67 local (z < 0.1) type 1 active galactic nuclei (AGN) with available Spitzer spectra dominated by nonstellar processes. We find that the 10 μm silicate feature peaks at with a strength (Si p = ln f p (spectrum)/f p (continuum)) of , while the 18 μm one peaks at with a strength of . We select from this sample sources with the strongest 10 μm silicate strength ( , 10 objects). We carry out a detailed modeling of the infrared spectrometer/Spitzer spectra by comparing several models that assume different geometries and dust composition: a smooth torus model, two clumpy torus models, a two-phase medium torus model, and a disk+outflow clumpy model. We find that the silicate features are well modeled by the clumpy model of Nenkova et al., and among all models, those including outflows and complex dust composition are the best. We note that even in AGN-dominated galaxies, it is usually necessary to add stellar contributions to reproduce the emission at the shortest wavelengths.

Circumstellar CO J = 3→2 detected around the evolving metal-poor ([Fe/H] ≈ −1.15 dex) AGB star RU Vulpeculae

ABSTRACT We report the first detection of CO J = 3→2 around a truly metal-poor evolved star. RU Vulpeculae is modelled to have Teff ≈ 3620 K, L ≈ 3128 ± 516 L⊙, log(g) = 0.0 ± 0.2 dex and [Fe/H] = −1.3 to −1.0 dex, and is modelled to have recently undergone a thermal pulse. Its infrared flux has approximately doubled over 35 yr. ALMA observations show the 3→2 line is narrow (half-width ∼1.8–3.5 km s−1). The 2→1 line is much weaker: it is not confidently detected. Spectral-energy-distribution fitting indicates very little circumstellar absorption, despite its substantial mid-infrared emission. A VISIR mid-infrared spectrum shows features typical of previously observed metal-poor stars, dominated by a substantial infrared excess but with weak silicate and (possibly) Al2O3 emission. A lack of resolved emission, combined with weak 2→1 emission, indicates the dense circumstellar material is truncated at large radii. We suggest that rapid dust condensation is occurring, but with an aspherical geometry (e.g. a disc or clumps) that does not obscure the star. We compare with T UMi, a similar star which is currently losing its dust.

Constraining the Active Galactic Nucleus and Starburst Properties of the IR-luminous Quasar Host Galaxy APM08279+5255 at Redshift 4 with SOFIA

Abstract We present far-IR photometry and the infrared spectrum of the z = 3.9114 quasar/starburst composite system APM 08279+5255, obtained using the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA)/High-resolution Airborne Wideband Camera+ (HAWC+) and the Spitzer Space Telescope Infrared Spectrograph. We decompose the IR-to-radio spectral energy distribution (SED), sampled in 51 bands, using (i) a model comprised of two-temperature modified blackbodies and radio power laws and (ii) a semi-analytic model, which also accounts for emission from a clumpy torus. The latter is more realistic but requires a well-sampled SED, which is possible here. In the former model, we find temperatures of = 296 K and = 110 K for the warm and cold dust components, respectively. This model suggests that the cold dust component dominates the far-infrared (FIR) energy budget (66%) but contributes only 17% to the total IR luminosity. Based on the torus models, we infer an inclination angle of i = 15 ° and the presence of silicate emission, in accordance with the Type-1 active galactic nucleus nature of APM 08279+5255. Accounting for the torus’ contribution to the FIR luminosity, we find a lensing-corrected star formation rate of SFR = 3075 × (4/μ L ) M ⊙ yr−1. We find that the central quasar contributes 30% to the FIR luminosity but dominates the total IR luminosity (93%). The 30% correction is in contrast to the 90% reported in previous work. In addition, the IR luminosity inferred from the torus model is a factor of two higher. These differences highlight the importance of adopting physically motivated models to properly account for IR emission in high-z quasars, which is now possible with SOFIA/HAWC+.

Are SiO molecules the seed of silicate dust around evolved stars?

AbstractSilicate is the most popular dust species in the circumstellar envelope of evolved oxygen-rich stars, yet its seed particles have not been well identified. Among the candidates, corundum and SiO attract intense attention and study. SiO was suggested to be the seed particles in early 1980s and has received various supports as well as oppositions. In this work we investigate the relation of SiO maser and silicate dust emission powers. With both our own observation by using the PMO/Delingha 13.7-m telescope and the archival data, a sample is assembled of 21 SiO v=1, J=2-1 sources and 28 SiO v=1, J=1-0 sources that exhibit silicate emission features in the ISO/SWS spectrum. The analysis of their SiO maser and silicate emission power shows a moderate correlation, which agrees with the idea that SiO molecules are the seed nuclei of silicate dust.