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OATS-UNI/TS SEMINAR
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Speaker: Isabelle Cherchneff (Basel University, Switzerland)

Title: Nanoparticles in space: the synthesis of cosmic dust in the universe
Date: Wednesday, October 2nd, 2013
Time: 11:30
Venue: Villa Bazzoni
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Abstract: Dust is ubiquitous in our universe and impacts the physics and chemistry of many environments. Dust is essential for the wind acceleration of evolved, low-mass stars, the formation of planets in protostellar discs, and the synthesis of complex organic molecules in molecular clouds. Large dust masses have been inferred in primeval galaxies, suggesting efficient dust production in the early universe notwithstanding the very low metallicity and short time scales involved. A wealth of observational data exists on this key component of the universe, but the chemical nature of dust, the synthesis of grains in stellar media, and the dust yields produced by stars are still very poorly understood. I will discuss the current models of dust formation in several evolved stellar environments (isupernovae, AGB stars, massive stellar winds) in the context of the most recent results from astronomical missions and facilities such as Herschel and ALMA.
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Contact: John Danziger (OATS)