Abstract
The predominant feature in the ultraviolet region of the interstellar extinction curve is a peak near 2200 Å1. Small particle scattering calculations (Mie theory) using measured optical constants of graphite produce a similar feature. This has led to the explanation that the interstellar feature is due to graphite2. Since the discovery3 of interstellar absorption near 10 µm−1 in the infrared, characteristic of vibrations in the crystal lattices of certain silicates, silicates have been mentioned frequently as likely interstellar dust particles4,5. Measured optical constants of appropriate silicates have not been available, however, for the ultraviolet region. We wish to give the results of the determination of the complex optical constants for one silicate and show that Mie scattering theory using these optical constants can give a peak in the ultraviolet similar to the “signature of graphite”.
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HUFFMAN, D., STAPP, J. Interstellar Silicate Extinction related to the 2200 Å Band. Nature Physical Science 229, 45–46 (1971). https://doi.org/10.1038/physci229045a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/physci229045a0
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