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Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons

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University of New Orleans

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IRON

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Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

The Physics Of Grain-Grain Collisions And Gas-Grain Sputtering In Interstellar Shocks, A G. Tielens, C F. Mckee, C G. Seab, D J. Hollenbach Jan 1994

The Physics Of Grain-Grain Collisions And Gas-Grain Sputtering In Interstellar Shocks, A G. Tielens, C F. Mckee, C G. Seab, D J. Hollenbach

Physics Faculty Publications

Grain-grain collisions and ion sputtering destroy dust grains in interstellar shocks. An analytical theory is developed for the propagation of shock waves in solids driven by grain-grain collisions, which compares very favorably with detailed numerical calculations. This theory is used to determine the fraction of a grain vaporized by a grain-grain collision. Our results predict much less vaporization of colliding grains in interstellar shocks than previous estimates. This theory can also be used to determine the fraction of a colliding grain that melts, shatters, or undergoes a phase transformation to a higher density phase. In particular, the latter two processes …


Predicting Peculiar Interstellar Extinction From Gaseous Abundances, Charles L. Joseph, Theodore P. Snow, C Gregory Seab Jan 1989

Predicting Peculiar Interstellar Extinction From Gaseous Abundances, Charles L. Joseph, Theodore P. Snow, C Gregory Seab

Physics Faculty Publications

Molecular and atomic abundances are examined for 19 lines of sight through dense clouds, each with a peculiar selective extinction curve. The interstellar clouds in the present study appear to fall into two distinct categories: CN-rich, with relatively small amounts of neutral iron, or CN-poor, with large amounts of neutral iron. Lines of sight, having a CN/(Fe i) abundance ratio about two (~ 0.3 dex) or greater, are found to have a shallow (2.57 ± 0.55 mag) 2175 Å feature relative to the underlying extinction, while the strength of the bump is 3.60 ± 0.36 for the other dense clouds …