Laboratory investigations

Laboratory studies related to cometary grains and the nuclei of comets can be broken down into three areas which relate to understanding the spectral properties, the formation mechanisms, and the evolution of grains and nuclei: (1) Spectral studies to be used in the interpretation of cometary spectra; (2) Sample preparation experiments which may shed light on the physical nature and history of cometary grains and nuclei by exploring the effects on grain emissivities resulting from the ways in which the samples are created; and (3) Grain processing experiments which should provide insight on the interaction of cometary grains with the environment in the immediate vicinity of the cometary nucleus as the comet travels from the Oort cloud through perihelion, and perhaps even suggestions regarding the relationship between interstellar grains and cometary matter. A summary is presented with a different view of lab experiments than is found in the literature, concentrating on measurement techniques and sample preparations especially relevant to cometary dust

The 10 micron spectral structure in comets

The 10 micron spectra of comets Halley (1982i), Wilson (1986l), Kohoutek (1973f) and Bradfield (1987s) are presented and compared. The silicate emission profiles of Halley and Bradfield are seen to be remarkably similar in that both contain a sharp break in the spectrum at 11.3 microns. Comet Bradfield does not show the same double peak structure seen in olivine and reported in Comet Halley be Campins and Ryan (1988) and Bregman, et al. (1987). The authors interpret the 11.3 micron signature as being due to olivine-type dust grains with at least some degree of crystallinity. Olivine alone is not enough to reproduce the shape of the 10 micron structure. However, in view of the authors' past success in fitting interstellar dust features with the emissivity profile obtained from amorphous grains produced by laser-vaporizing olivine, this is a very appealing identification. They note that there are significant variations in olivine spectra due to compositional differences, grain size distribution and related grain temperature variations to make the olivine identification tentative. They further tentatively identify the 9.8 micron feature in Halley as being due to either amorphorous olivine or a phyllosilicate (layer lattice). Neither the spectra of Halley, Kohoutek, nor Bradfield exhibited the 12.2 micron feature seen in Comet Wilson, which may prove diagnostic of the composition or thermal history differences between these comets. IR spectra of various mineral samples are discussed in terms of their match to cometary spectra

Observational constraints on interstellar dust models

No single model has been able to account for all of the observed spectroscopic properties of interstellar or circumstellar dust. The reason for this is that, despite the agreement that the grains are composed of silicaceous/metal oxide and carbonaceous material, there is strong disagreement as to their exact structure and composition. This led Draine and Lee (1984) to use interstellar extinction data to define an interstellar graphitic material; new observational findings have made even that identification uncertain. But the great advantage of their approach is that they used observations at all of the wavelengths available to define the material. Here, the authors attempt a variation of that approach. They examine recent UV and IR data and attempt to put constraints on the possible types of interstellar grain composition, and to connect these constraints with grain models. A summary of some of the important constraints imposed by the observations is given

Si3N4 emissivity and the unidentified infrared bands

Infrared spectroscopy of warm (about 150 to 750 K), dusty astronomical sources has revealed a structured emission spectrum which can be diagnostic of the composition, temperature, and in some cases, even size and shape of the grains giving rise to the observed emission. The identifications of silicate emission in oxygen rich objects and SiC in carbon rich object are two examples of this type of analysis. Cometary spectra at moderate resolution have similarly revealed silicate emission, tying together interstellar and interplanetary dust. However, Goebel has pointed out that some astronomical sources appear to contain a different type of dust which results in a qualitatively different spectral shape in the 8 to 13 micron region. The spectra shown make it appear unlikely that silicon nitride can be identified as the source of the 8 to 13 micron emission in either NGC 6572 or Nova Aql 1982. The similarity between the general wavelength and shape of the 10 micron emission from some silicates and that from the two forms of silicon nitride reported could allow a mix of cosmic grains which include some silicon nitride if only the 8 to 13 micron data are considered

Some 5-13 micrometer airborne observations of Comet Wilson 1986l: Preliminary results

Comet Wilson was observed from the Kuiper Airborne Observatory approximately 23.6 and 25.7 Apr. 1987, UT (approx. 3 to 5 days after perihelion) using the NASA-Ames Faint Object Grating Spectrometer. Spectrophotometric data were observed with a 21 inch aperture between 5 and 13 micrometer and with a spectral resolution of 50 to 100. Spectra of the inner coma and nucleus reveal a fairly smooth continuum with little evidence of silicate emission. The 5 to 8 micrometer color temperature of the comet was 300 + or - 15 K, approx. 15 percent higher than the equilibrium blackbody temperature. All three spectra of the nucleus show a new emission feature at approx. 12.25 micrometer approx. two channels (.22 micrometer) wide. Visual and photographic observations made during the time of these observations showed a broad faint, possible two component tail. No outburst activity was observed

Silicate Emission in the TW Hydrae Association

The TW Hydrae Association is the nearest young stellar association. Among its members are HD 98800, HR 4796A, and TW Hydrae itself, the nearest known classical T Tauri star. We have observed these three stars spectroscopically between 3 and 13 microns. In TW Hya the spectrum shows a silicate emission feature that is similar to many other young stars with protostellar disks. The 11.2 micron feature indicative of significant amounts of crystalline olivine is not as strong as in some young stars and solar system comets. In HR 4796A, the thermal emission in the silicate feature is very weak, suggesting little in the way of (small silicate) grains near the star. The silicate band of HD 98800 (observed by us but also reported by Sylvester and Skinner (1996)) is intermediate in strength between TW Hya and HR 4796.Comment: 22 pages, 11 figures, LaTeX2e and AAS LaTeX macros v5.0. Accepted for publication in A

Cometary Dust in the Debris Disks of HD 31648 and HD 163296: Two ``Baby'' beta Pics

The debris disks surrounding the pre-main sequence stars HD 31648 and HD 163296 were observed spectroscopically between 3 and 14 microns. Both possess a silicate emission feature at 10 microns which resembles that of the star beta Pictoris and those observed in solar system comets. The structure of the band is consistent with a mixture of olivine and pyroxene material, plus an underlying continuum of unspecified origin. The similarity in both size and structure of the silicate band suggests that the material in these systems had a processing history similar to that in our own solar system prior to the time that the grains were incorporated into comets.Comment: 17 pages, AASTeX, 5 eps figures, accepted for publication in Ap.

Imaging the Disk and Jet of the Classical T Tauri Star AA Tau

Previous studies of the classical T Tauri star AA Tau have interpreted the UX-Orionis-like photo-polarimetric variability as being due to a warp in the inner disk caused by an inclined stellar magnetic dipole field. We test that these effects are macroscopically observable in the inclination and alignment of the disk. We use Hubble Space Telescope (HST)/STIS coronagraphic imagery to measure the V magnitude of the star for both STIS coronagraphic observations, compare these data with optical photometry in the literature, and find that, unlike other classical T Tauri stars observed in the same HST program, the disk is most robustly detected in scattered light at stellar optical minimum light.We measure the outer disk radius, 1 inch.15 plus-minus 0 inch.10, major-axis position angle, and disk inclination and find that the inner disk, as reported in the literature, is both misinclined and misaligned with respect to the outer disk. AA Tau drives a faint jet, detected in both STIS observations and in follow-on Goddard Fabry-Perot imagery, which is also misaligned with respect to the projection of the outer disk minor axis and is poorly collimated near the star, but which can be traced 21 inches from the star in data from 2005. The measured outer disk inclination, 71deg plus-minus 1deg, is out of the range of inclinations suggested for stars with UX-Orionis-like variability when no grain growth has occurred in the disk. The faintness of the disk, small disk size, and detection of the star despite the high inclination all indicate that the dust disk must have experienced grain growth and settling toward the disk midplane, which we verify by comparing the observed disk with model imagery from the literature