About this Research Topic
Dust is an essential ingredient of the interstellar medium (ISM) and it forms in varying, and often extreme environments. At various scales in time and space, ranging from picoseconds to megayears and from Ångstroms to parsecs, dust grains impact the evolution of the ISM by diverse interactions with the pervasive (inter-)stellar radiation, as well as with numerous gas-phase species. For example, dust controls many heating and cooling processes by absorbing photons, and grain surfaces act as catalyst for the formation of H2. Moreover, cosmic dust plays a crucial role for the evolution of galaxies, evolved stars, and protoplanetary disks.
However, the formation, the destruction and the (re-)processing of cosmic dust grains are not well understood. Open questions in the field address the nature of cosmic dust, namely its chemical composition and its stoichiometry at the nanoscale. Furthermore, the shape, the size (distribution), and the degree of crystallinity of the grains is subject to ongoing research. Another riddle is how exactly the different dust types interact with radiation that is ubiquitously present in space. Furthermore, the processing of the various condensates is challenging, as it critically depends on the dynamically evolving, local physical conditions as well as on the availability of chemical species. This impacts the dust properties and results either in dust growth by coalescence and gas accretion or in dust destruction by fragmentation and photodissociation.
The study of cosmic dust grains is strongly interdisciplinary. Laboratory experiments investigate pristine meteorites, synthesized dust analogues, and reaction rate measurements of the relevant physical and chemical processes, such as the nucleation of the molecular precursors, grain-surface reactions, and solid-state reactions. Astronomical observations can give us information about broad infrared features associated with dust, but also about molecular dust precursors showing narrow and discrete spectral transitions, providing insight into dust formation routes in space. Theoretical models fill an important niche in our understanding, in particular to address problems that are not accessible by experiments due to extreme conditions in space, and by observations owing to obscuration, blending, and resolution effects. In the light of the major theoretical, observational, and laboratory role of cosmic dust, it is of primary importance to understand the nature and the presence of dust in a wealth of astrophysical environments across the Universe.
In this Research Topic, we aim to bridge the research domains of mineralogy, quantum chemistry and astrophysics to review the key processes that lie at the basis of the formation, life, and destruction of cosmic dust grains.
We welcome a range of article types including, but not limited to; Original Research, Brief Research Reports, and Reviews.
However, the formation, the destruction and the (re-)processing of cosmic dust grains are not well understood. Open questions in the field address the nature of cosmic dust, namely its chemical composition and its stoichiometry at the nanoscale. Furthermore, the shape, the size (distribution), and the degree of crystallinity of the grains is subject to ongoing research. Another riddle is how exactly the different dust types interact with radiation that is ubiquitously present in space. Furthermore, the processing of the various condensates is challenging, as it critically depends on the dynamically evolving, local physical conditions as well as on the availability of chemical species. This impacts the dust properties and results either in dust growth by coalescence and gas accretion or in dust destruction by fragmentation and photodissociation.
The study of cosmic dust grains is strongly interdisciplinary. Laboratory experiments investigate pristine meteorites, synthesized dust analogues, and reaction rate measurements of the relevant physical and chemical processes, such as the nucleation of the molecular precursors, grain-surface reactions, and solid-state reactions. Astronomical observations can give us information about broad infrared features associated with dust, but also about molecular dust precursors showing narrow and discrete spectral transitions, providing insight into dust formation routes in space. Theoretical models fill an important niche in our understanding, in particular to address problems that are not accessible by experiments due to extreme conditions in space, and by observations owing to obscuration, blending, and resolution effects. In the light of the major theoretical, observational, and laboratory role of cosmic dust, it is of primary importance to understand the nature and the presence of dust in a wealth of astrophysical environments across the Universe.
In this Research Topic, we aim to bridge the research domains of mineralogy, quantum chemistry and astrophysics to review the key processes that lie at the basis of the formation, life, and destruction of cosmic dust grains.
We welcome a range of article types including, but not limited to; Original Research, Brief Research Reports, and Reviews.
Keywords: nucleation, astrochemistry, carbon stars, planetary nebulae, giant branch stars, dust formation, dust growth
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
