A study of frequency and size distribution dependence of extinction for astronomical silicate and graphite grains

It is generally agreed that interstellar dust grains consist of two main components, namely, silicates and graphites. Some models, like MRN model, assume these grains to be homogeneous spheres following a power law size distribution. This paper presents, in the framework of Mie theory, a parametrization of extinction spectrum curves of the silicates and the graphites separately in terms of frequency and the minimum and maximum of sizes in the distribution. Analytic expressions in ultraviolet and far-ultraviolet are presented for both types of grains.The values of maximum and minimum sizes for which these equations are valid have been identified. These equations can be useful in a number of situations involving silicate and graphite grains.

Ashim K. Roy, Subodh K. Sharma, Ranjan Gupta · 2009