The Non-Linear Relationship between Silicate Absorption Depth and IR Extinction in Dense Clouds

Details The Non-Linear Relationship between Silicate Absorption Depth and IR Extinction in Dense Clouds The Non-Linear Relationship between Silicate Absorption Depth and IR Extinction in Dense Clouds

Dec 2006

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2006aas...209.8419c&link_type=abstract

2007 AAS/AAPT Joint Meeting, American Astronomical Society Meeting 209, #84.19; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, V

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Interstellar silicates are likely to be a part of all grains responsible for extinction in the diffuse interstellar medium (ISM) and dense clouds. A correlation between visual extinction (Av) and the depth of the 9.7 mu silicate feature (measured as optical depth, tau(9.7)) is expected if the dust species are well mixed. In the diffuse ISM, such a correlation is observed for lines of sight in the solar neighborhood. A previous study of the silicate absorption feature in the Taurus dark cloud showed a tendency for the correlation to break down at high Av (Whittet et al. 1988, MNRAS, 233, 321), but the scatter was large.
We have acquired Spitzer Infrared Spectrograph data of several lines of sight in the IC 5146, Barnard 68, Chameleon I and Serpens dense clouds. To eliminate any uncertainties associated with adopting a specific extinction law, we investigated the relationship between tau(9.7) and E(J-K). Our data set spans E(J-K) between 0.3 and 8 mag (Av=between 2-35 mag.). All lines of sight show the 9.7 mu silicate feature. For E(J-K) greater than about 2 mag, tau(9.7) levels off, much like the trend observed in the Taurus data. There are two exceptions: one line of sight in Serpens, with E(J-K) 4 mag lies on the diffuse ISM line. Another line of sight with E(J-K) 8 mag, also in Serpens, lies well below the diffuse ISM line, but well above the “flat” trend of the other dense cloud sources. This particular line of sight also has a high ice column relative to the amount of visual/infrared extinction. The cause of the “flat” trend exhibited by most of the dense cloud points is undetermined. However, in general, it is unlikely that ice mantles would have any effect on the measured silicate feature since ices are transparent in the 10 mu region.

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