Rahul KK, Shivakarthik E, Meka JK, Das A, Chandrasekaran V, Rajasekhar BN, Lo JI, Cheng BM, Janardhan P, Bhardwaj A, Mason NJ, Sivaraman B. Residue from vacuum ultraviolet irradiation of benzene ices: Insights into the physical structure of astrophysical dust.
SPECTROCHIMICA ACTA. PART A, MOLECULAR AND BIOMOLECULAR SPECTROSCOPY 2020;
231:117797. [PMID:
31837964 DOI:
10.1016/j.saa.2019.117797]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2019] [Revised: 11/12/2019] [Accepted: 11/12/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
We have irradiated benzene ices deposited at 4 K on a cold, interstellar dust analog with vacuum ultraviolet (9 eV) irradiation for periods lasting from several hours to nearly a day, after which the irradiated ice was warmed to room temperature. Vacuum ultraviolet photoabsorption spectra of the aromatic residue left at room temperature were recorded and showed the synthesis of benzene derivatives. The residue was also imaged using an electron microscope and revealed crystals of various sizes and shapes. The result of our experiments suggests such geometrically shaped dust particles may be a key component of interstellar dust.
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