Shock processing of interstellar dust - Diamonds in the sky
A. G. G. M. Tielens, C. G. Seab, D. J. Hollenbach, C. F. McKee;
ApJ, 1987, 319, L109
ABSTRACT:The processing of interstellar dust grains by strong shock waves is studied, with the emphasis on the effects of grain-grain collisions.
Such
collisions provide the high pressures required to transform interstellar
graphite and amorphous carbon grains into diamonds.
Diamond metamorphism is
as important for the destruction of such grains as vaporization and
sputtering.
It is calculated that about 5 percent of the C is expected to be in the form of
5-100 A diamonds in the interstellar medium.
These results support the
suggested interstellar origin for the recently discovered small meteoritic
diamonds by providing a feasible interstellar formation mechanism.
KEYWORDS: amorphous materials, cosmic dust, interstellar matter, metamorphism (geology), meteoritic diamonds, shock waves, crystal lattices, interstellar gas, interstellar magnetic fields, phase transformations, shock fronts, sputtering
CODE: tielens87