Temperature Spectra of Interstellar Dust Grains Heated by Cosmic Rays. III. Mixed Composition Grains

TL;DR

This study calculates energy and temperature spectra of mixed-composition interstellar grains heated by cosmic rays, considering variations in ice coverage and composition, to improve astrochemical modeling accuracy.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed method for calculating CR-induced heating spectra of mixed-composition grains, accounting for ice and material variations with column density.

Findings

Larger icy grains are less frequently heated to high temperatures.

The approach improves accuracy over previous models by considering composite grain properties.

Results are applicable to astrochemical models of molecular clouds and star-forming regions.

Abstract

Icy grains in the interstellar medium and star-formation regions consist of a variety of materials. Such composite grains interact differently with cosmic-ray (CR) particles compared to simple single-material grains. We aim to calculate the spectra of energies and temperatures of mixed-composition grains undergoing whole-grain heating by CRs. The grains were assumed to consist of a mixture of carbon and olivine, covered by ices consisting of carbon oxides and water. The energy and temperature spectra for grains with radii 0.05; 0.1, and 0.2 microns impacted by CRs were calculated for eight values of column density, relevant to molecular clouds and star-forming cores. The approach takes into account changes in ice thickness and composition with increasing column density. These detailed data for CR interaction with interstellar grains are intended for applications in astrochemical models. The main finding is that the a more accurate approach on grain heat capacity and other factors prevent a frequent heating of 0.1 micron or larger icy grains to high temperatures.