The Dusty Universe - From Spitzer to Herschel: Dust Formation and Spectroscopy
Abstract
With the emergence of infrared (IR) astronomy in the late sixties, the importance of dust particles in the Universe began to be revealed. Dust is a vital ingredient in understanding many astrophysical environments. It plays an essential role in star formation processes, and contributes to several aspects of interstellar processes such as gas heating and the formation of molecules. In addition, since mass-loss from evolved stars is radiation driven, it is intimately linked to the precise nature of the circumstellar dust, which affects the coupling between stellar radiation and circumstellar material. Cosmic dust needs to be well understood in its own right, if we are to understand how it contributes to many aspects of astrophysics.
With the advent of air- and space-borne observatories in the IR and sub-mm range, our ability to observe dust in numerous astrophysical environments has expanded and continues to expand rapidly. Existing observational data from Spitzer, ISO and IRAS have provided many windows on dusty environments. With the much anticipated new observatories, SOFIA and Herschel, this trend will only continue. However, as yet astronomers do not have the necessary laboratory data to interpret their observations without ambiguity. Here we discuss the legacy of observational data from IRAS, ISO and Spitzer, and that anticipated from SOFIA and Herschel with an emphasis on the contributions from laboratory studies.- Publication:
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American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts #214
- Pub Date:
- May 2009
- Bibcode:
- 2009AAS...21423203S