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| Paper: |
Interstellar Abundances and Depletions |
| Volume: |
309, Astrophysics of Dust |
| Page: |
393 |
| Authors: |
Sofia, U.J. |
| Abstract: |
Abundance and depletion studies are important components to the exploration of interstellar dust. Combining interstellar gas-phase abundances with assumptions about the intrinsic (gas + dust) abundances in the medium allows one to extract important information about the chemical and physical composition of interstellar grains. Our ability to measure accurate gas-phase abundances has been increasing over the years to the point where these are often well determined. This leaves intrinsic overall abundances as the weak point in determining dust characteristics. Although there are limits to the information about dust that we can presently extract from abundance studies, much has been learned from them. Some of the many results from abundance and depletion studies in diffuse and translucent sightlines, and their impact on our knowledge of dust are reviewed here. |
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