Search Publications
Detection of PAH Absorption and Determination of the Mid-infrared Diffuse Interstellar Extinction Curve from the Sight Line toward Cyg OB2-12
Draine, B. T.; Hensley, Brandon S.
The sight line toward the luminous blue hypergiant Cyg OB2-12 is widely used to study interstellar dust on account of its large extinction (AV ≃ 10 mag) and the fact that this extinction appears to be dominated by dust typical of the diffuse interstellar medium. We present a new analysis of archival Infrared Space Observatory Short Wave…
Revisiting the Impact of Dust Production from Carbon-rich Wolf-Rayet Binaries
Sakon, Itsuki; Williams, Peredur M.; Lau, Ryan M. +3 more
We present a dust spectral energy distribution (SED) and binary stellar population analysis revisiting the dust production rates (DPRs) in the winds of carbon-rich Wolf-Rayet (WC) binaries and their impact on galactic dust budgets. DustEM SED models of 19 Galactic WC "dustars" reveal DPRs of ${\dot{M}}_{d}\sim {10}^{-10}\mbox{--}{10}^{-6}$ M⊙…
Surveying the Giant H II Regions of the Milky Way with SOFIA. II. M17
Lim, Wanggi; De Buizer, James M.; Radomski, James T.
We present our second set of results from our mid-infrared imaging survey of Milky Way giant H II regions. We used the FORCAST instrument on the Stratospheric Observatory For Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) to obtain 20 and 37 µm images of the central ∼10' × 10' area of M17. We investigate the small- and large-scale properties of M17 using our da…
Resolving Decades of Periodic Spirals from the Wolf-Rayet Dust Factory WR 112
Moffat, Anthony F. J.; Stevens, Ian R.; Sakon, Itsuki +9 more
WR 112 is a dust-forming carbon-rich Wolf-Rayet (WC) binary with a dusty circumstellar nebula that exhibits a complex asymmetric morphology, which traces the orbital motion and dust formation in the colliding winds of the central binary. Unraveling the complicated circumstellar dust emission around WR 112 therefore provides an opportunity to under…
The Isotropic Interplanetary Dust Cloud and Near-infrared Extragalactic Background Light Observed with COBE/DIRBE
Matsuura, S.; Sano, K.; Yomo, K. +1 more
We report observation of isotropic interplanetary dust (IPD) by analyzing the infrared (IR) maps of the Diffuse Infrared Background Experiment (DIRBE) on board the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) spacecraft. To search for the isotropic IPD, we perform new analysis in terms of the solar elongation angle (ɛ), because we expect the zodiacal light (…
SOFIA-EXES Observations of Betelgeuse during the Great Dimming of 2019/2020
Harper, Graham M.; Guinan, Edward F.; Ryde, Nils +5 more
In 2019 October Betelgeuse began a decline in V-band brightness that went beyond the minimum expected from its quasi-periodic ∼420 day cycle, becoming the faintest in recorded photometric history. Observations obtained in 2019 December with Very Large Telescope/SPHERE have shown that the southern half of the star has become markedly fainter than i…
SOFIA/FORCAST Observations of R Aqr: Monitoring the Dust Emission
Gorti, Uma; Wagner, R. Mark; Sankrit, Ravi +2 more
We present mid-infrared spectra of the symbiotic Mira, R Aqr obtained with the Faint Object infraRed CAmera instrument on the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy in 2016 and 2017. These data, supplemented with Infrared Space Observatory observations from 20 yr earlier, allow us to study the variation of the silicate dust emission over…