NASA Successfully Recreates Space Dust on Earth

A team of NASA scientists has successfully replicated the process of formation of interstellar dust occurring in the atmosphere of a dying star.

 In a specialized facility called the Cosmic Simulation Chamber (COSmiC), scientists at the Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif., have recreated the dust and gas found in the atmosphere of a red giant star, which eventually leads to the formation of the planet-forming interstellar dust.

With the recreation of the dust grains similar to the dust grains that are present in the outer layers of the dying star, the scientists hope to gain a deep insight into the evolution and composition of the universe.

Dust grains, recognized as the key component of the universe's evolution, are widely seen surrounding a dying star and emitted into the interstellar medium that leads to the formation of planets.  The materials that make up the building blocks of the universe are much more complicated than originally believed.

"The harsh conditions of space are extremely difficult to reproduce in the laboratory, and have long hindered efforts to interpret and analyze observations from space," said Farid Salama, project leader and a space science researcher at Ames. "Using the COSmIC simulator we can now discover clues to questions about the composition and the evolution of the universe, both major objectives of NASA's space research program."

In the past, the scientists found it challenging to detect the extraterrestrial materials due to their failed attempts of simulating space conditions in gaseous state.   But with the help of COSmiC, researchers have managed to simulate the gas and dust similar to the interstellar clouds, stellar enveloped or planetary atmosphere environments.  This was possible with the use of argon gas seeded with hydrocarbon that cools the molecules to temperatures found in those environments.

"By using COSmIC and building up on the work we recently published in the Astrophysical Journal August 29, 2013, we now can for the first time truly recreate and visualize in the laboratory the formation of carbon grains in the envelope of stars and learn about the formation, structure and size distribution of stellar dust grains," said Cesar Contreras of the Bay Area Environmental Research (BAER) Institute and a research fellow at Ames. "This type of new research truly pushes the frontiers of science toward new horizons, and illustrates NASA's important contribution to science."

During the COSmiC experiments the researchers formed and detected nanoparticles on the order of 10nm size grains varying from 100-500 nanometers and combined grains up to 1.5 micrometers in diameter i.e. a tenth of the width of human hair.

 The finding is also important for planetary science. The research was funded through the Laboratory Astrophysics Carbon-in-the-Galaxy consortium program.