Microscopic surface structure of C/SiC composite mirrors for space cryogenic telescopes

We report on the microscopic surface structure of carbon-fiber-reinforced silicon carbide (C/SiC) composite mirrors that have been improved for the Space Infrared Telescope for Cosmology and Astrophysics (SPICA) and other cooled telescopes. The C/SiC composite consists of carbon fiber, silicon carbide, and residual silicon. Specific microscopic structures are found on the surface of the bare C/SiC mirrors after polishing. These structures are considered to be caused by the different hardness of those materials. The roughness obtained for the bare mirrors is 20 nm rms for flat surfaces and 100 nm rms for curved surfaces. It was confirmed that a SiSiC slurry coating is effective in reducing the roughness to 2 nm rms. The scattering properties of the mirrors were measured at room temperature and also at 95 K. No significant change was found in the scattering properties through cooling, which suggests that the microscopic surface structure is stable with changes in temperature down to cryogenic values. The C/SiC mirror with the SiSiC slurry coating is a promising candidate for the SPICA telescope.Comment: 25 pages, 6 figure

Dust formation around M-type stars

IRAS LRS spectra of M Mira variable have shown variation in the appearance of the 9.7 micron silicate feature, which is correlated with the shape of light curve. The LRS spectra of 100 Mira variables have been studied using simple dust shell models containing mixtures of silicate and aluminum oxide dust grains. It has been shown that the aluminum oxide grains account for the observed broad feature around 12 microns and that the variation of the spectra can be interpreted in terms of the variation of the temperature at the inner boundary of silicate dust shell. It has been proposed that silicate mantle growth on aluminum oxide grains is a possible explanation for the results. In this report, the model spectra are calculated taking account of silicate mantle growth, and the physical parameters which may determine the appearance of the 9.7 micron feature in M Mira variables are investigated. In the model calculation it is assumed that aluminum oxide grains are already formed at the bottom of the circumstellar envelope because of their high condensation temperature. The growth of silicate mantle and the motion of gas and grains from r=r(sub 0), where the mantle growth starts, are investigated. Sticking and sputtering processes due to the relative motion of grain to the ambient gas are taken into account. The thermal velocity is assumed to be negligible to the drift velocity. Acceleration by radiation pressure is considered in the gas motion equation. The formal solution is integrated to obtain the emergent spectra. Physical conditions inside r(sub 0) are regarded as boundary conditions. Observed spectra are compared to model spectra to investigate the conditions at the bottom of circumstellar envelope. In modeling the envelope, a parameter C(sub l) is introduced to take account of the density fluctuation of the envelope phenomenologically

The ASTRO-F Mission : Large Area Infrared Survey

ASTRO-F is the first Japanese satellite mission dedicated for large area surveys in the infrared. The 69cm aperture telescope and scientific instruments are cooled to 6K by liquid Helium and mechanical coolers. During the expected mission life of more than 500 days, ASTRO-F will make the most advanced all-sky survey in the mid- to far-infrared since the Infrared astronomical Satellite (IRAS). The survey will be made in 6 wavebands and will include the first all sky survey at >100-160(mu)m. Deep imaging and spectroscopic surveys with pointed observations will also be carried out in 13 wavelength bands from 2-160(mu)m. ASTRO-F should detect more than a half million galaxies tracing the large-scale structure of the Universe out to redshifts of unity, detecting rare, exotic extraordinarily luminous objects at high redshift, numerous brown dwarfs, Vega-like stars, protostars, and will reveal the large-scale structure of nearby galactic star forming regions. ASTRO-F is a perfect complement to Spitzer Space Telescope in respect of its wide sky and wavelength coverage. Approximately 30 percent of pointed observations will be allocated to an open-time opportunity. Updated pre-flight ensitivities as well as the observation plan including the large-area surveys are described.Comment: accepted for publication in Advances in Space Research, 15 pages, 7 Postscript figures, uses elsart.cl

Mixed aliphatic and aromatic composition of evaporating very small grains in NGC 7023 revealed by the 3.4/3.3 μ\mum ratio

In photon-dominated regions (PDRs), UV photons from nearby stars lead to the evaporation of very small grains (VSGs) and the production of gas-phase polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Our goal is to achieve better insight into the composition and evolution of evaporating very small grains (eVSGs) and PAHs through analyzing the infrared (IR) aliphatic and aromatic emission bands. We combined spectro-imagery in the near- and mid-IR to study the spatial evolution of the emission bands in the prototypical PDR NGC 7023. We used near-IR spectra obtained with AKARI to trace the evolution of the 3.3$\mu$m and 3.4$\mu$m bands, which are associated with aromatic and aliphatic C-H bonds on PAHs. The spectral fitting involves an additional broad feature centred at 3.45$\mu$m. Mid-IR observations obtained with Spitzer are used to discriminate the signatures of eVSGs, neutral and cationic PAHs. We correlated the spatial evolution of all these bands with the intensity of the UV field to explore the processing of their carriers. The intensity of the 3.45$\mu$m plateau shows an excellent correlation with that of the 3.3$\mu$m aromatic band (correlation coefficient R = 0.95), indicating that the plateau is dominated by the emission from aromatic bonds. The ratio of the 3.4$\mu$m and 3.3$\mu$m band intensity ($I_{3.4}/I_{3.3}$) decreases by a factor of 4 at the PDR interface from the more UV-shielded to the more exposed layers. The transition region between the aliphatic and aromatic material is found to correspond spatially with the transition zone between neutral PAHs and eVSGs. We conclude that the photo-processing of eVSGs leads to the production of PAHs with attached aliphatic sidegroups that are revealed by the 3.4$\mu$m emission band. Our analysis provides evidence for the presence of very small grains of mixed aromatic and aliphatic composition in PDRs.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A. Abstract abridged, language editing applied in v