Probing the Role of Carbon in the Interstellar Ultraviolet Extinction

TL;DR

This study investigates the role of carbon in interstellar UV extinction by analyzing extinction curves and correlating carbon depletion with the 2175 Angstrom bump, supporting graphite or PAHs as carriers.

Contribution

It introduces a less model-dependent method to estimate carbon dust abundance and links carbon depletion to specific UV extinction features, advancing understanding of dust composition.

Findings

Carbon depletion correlates with the 2175 Angstrom bump strength.

Silicon abundance shows no correlation with the bump.

Far-UV extinction is more likely caused by small carbon dust.

Abstract

We probe the role of carbon in the ultraviolet (UV) extinction by examining the relations between the amount of carbon required to be locked up in dust [C/H]_dust with the 2175 Angstrom extinction bump and the far-UV extinction rise, based on an analysis of the extinction curves along 16 Galactic sightlines for which the gas-phase carbon abundance is known and the 2175 Angstrom extinction bump exhibits variable strengths and widths. We derive [C/H]_dust from the Kramers-Kronig relation which relates the wavelength-integrated extinction to the total dust volume. This approach is less model-dependent since it does not require the knowledge of the detailed optical properties and size distribution of the dust. We also derive [C/H]_dust from fitting the observed UV/optical/near-infrared extinction with a mixture of amorphous silicate and graphite. We find that the carbon depletion [C/H]_dust tends to correlate with the strength of the 2175 Angstrom bump, while the abundance of silicon depleted in dust shows no correlation with the 2175 Angstrom bump. This supports graphite or polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) molecules as the possible carrier of the 2175 Angstrom bump. We also see that [C/H]_dust shows a trend of correlating with 1/R_V, where R_V is the total-to-selective extinction ratio, suggesting that the far-UV extinction is more likely produced by small carbon dust than by small silicate dust.