Laboratory experiments on cosmic dust and ices

Abstract

The existence of cosmic dust is attested by the interstellar extinction and polarization, IR emission and absorption spectra, and elemental depletion patterns. Dust grains are efficiently processed or even destroyed in shocks, molecular clouds, or protoplanetary disks. A considerable amount of dust has to be re-formed in the ISM. In various astrophysical environments, dust grains are covered by molecular ices and therefore contribute or catalytically influence the chemical reactions in these layers. Laboratory experiments are desperately required to understand the evolution of grains and grain/ice mixtures in molecular clouds and early planetary disks. This review considers recent progress in laboratory approaches to dust/ice experiments.