Towards an understanding of astronomical silicate dust based on mineralogy, meteoritics and infrared spectroscopy

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Tiny dust grains exist throughout the Universe: from the most distant galaxies, to our own Solar System. These grains cause galaxies to shine at infrared wavelengths. Much of the space dust is made of silicates, with a similar composition to rocks, soil and sand on the Earth and to meteorites which are rocks which fall to Earth from space. Mineralogists and meteoriticists study silicate rocks and meteoritic silicates in great detail, but this knowledge is not often used to interpret astronomical data. I am an astrophysicist who tries to understand dusty regions of space, galaxies, exploding stars, newly-forming stars and comets by comparing data from telescopes with laboratory data; I apply the results to computational models to interpret the physics. Where there is insufficient laboratory data, I work with mineralogists, meteoriticists, chemists and physicists to obtain new data. This project will underpin the interpretation of infrared spectra obtained with the James Webb Space Telescope, and older under-interpreted Spitzer and ISO-telescope data. It will also provide an archive of laboratory data for physical models of the passage of light through dusty space and help other astrophysicists to know the composition and physics of astronomical silicate dust.