Circumstellar dust

Abstract

The presence of dust in the general interstellar medium is inferred from the extinction, polarization, and scattering of starlight; the presence of dark nebulae; interstellar depletions; the observed infrared emission around certain stars and various types of interstellar clouds. Interstellar grains are subject to various destruction mechanisms that reduce their size or even completely destroy them. A continuous source of newly formed dust must therefore be present for dust to exist in the various phases of the interstellar medium (ISM). The working group has the following goals: (1) review the evidences for the formation of dust in the various sources; (2) examine the clues to the nature and composition of the dust; (3) review the status of grain formation theories; (4) examine any evidence for the processing of the dust prior to its injection into the interstellar medium; and (5) estimate the relative contribution of the various sources to the interstellar dust population