Hot Dust Affects View of Eta Carinae
In a paper to appear in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, available online now here, astronomer Nathan Smith of UC Berkeley, concludes that dust grains “composed of corundum or similar species that condense at high temperatures” are responsible for the infrared (IR) spectral energy densities (SED) that are noted in conjunction with the nebulosity called Eta Carinae. This study highlights the importance of our understanding of the interstellar medium and cosmic dust in particular.