Investigating Silicate, Carbon, and Water in the Diffuse Interstellar Medium: The First Shots from WISCI
Abstract The dusty interstellar medium (ISM) of the Milky Way is distributed in a complex, cloudy structure. It is fundamental to the radiation balance within the Milky Way, provides a reaction surface to form complex molecules, and is the feedstock for future generations of stars and planets. The life cycle of interstellar dust is not completely understood, and neither are its structure nor composition. The abundance, composition, and structure of dust in the diffuse ISM can be determined by combining infrared, optical, and ultraviolet spectroscopy. JWST enables measurement of the faint absorption of ISM dust grains against bright stars at kiloparsec distances across the infrared spectrum. Here we present an overview of the project “Webb Investigation of Silicates, Carbons, and Ices” (WISCI) along with interpretation of two targets, GSC 08152-02121 and CPD-59 5831. Observations of 12 WISCI target stars were taken by JWST, the Hubble Space Telescope, Himalayan Chandra Telescope, and the Very Large Telescope. We use these to characterize the targets’ spectral types and calculate their line-of-sight extinction parameters, A V and R V . We find absorption in the JWST spectra of GSC 08152-02121 and CPD-59 5831 associated with carbonaceous dust around 3.4 and 6.2 μ m and amorphous silicates at 9.7 μ m. In GSC 08152-02121, we also find indications of absorption by trapped water around 3 μ m. This first look from WISCI demonstrates the line-of-sight variability within the sample, and the program’s potential to identify and correlate features across ultraviolet to mid-infrared wavelengths.
Authors
- F. Backs (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3670-3181)
- F. Kemper (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2743-8240)
- Joel D. Green (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1665-5709)
- Stefan T. Bromley (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7037-0475)
- Burcu Günay (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2449-0214)
- P. Manoj (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3530-304X)
- S. T. Zeegers (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8163-8852)
- J. Bouwman (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4757-2500)
- Rens Waters (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5462-9387)
- Julia Christine Roman-Duval (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6326-7069)
- А. В. Потапов (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3699-7477)
- Joan Mariñoso Guiu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7154-8450)
- Aigen Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1119-642X)
- Mayank Narang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0554-1151)
- J. P. Marshall (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6208-1801)
- T. E. Dharmawardena (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9583-5216)
- Karl D. Gordon (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5340-6774)
- Peter Scicluna (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1161-3756)
- Chamani M. Gunasekera (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4634-5966)
- L. Kaper (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8025-8981)
- G. P. P. L. Otten (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6717-1977)
- Catherine Wei
- T. Shenar (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0642-8107)
- M. K. McClure (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1878-327X)
- A. G. G. M. Tielens (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0306-0028)
- T. R. Geballe (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2824-3875)
- J. E. Chiar (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2029-1549)
- Y. J. Pendleton (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8102-2903)
- Olivia Jones (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4870-5547)
- Thomas Henning (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1493-300X)
- Eleonora Zari (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3769-8812)
- E. Costantini (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8470-749X)
- Marjorie Decleir (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9462-5543)
- K. A. Misselt
- Himanshu Tyagi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9497-8856)
Institutions
- Diablo Valley College (US)
- University of Central Florida (US)
- Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ES)
- Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (IN)
- Leiden University (NL)
- Ames Research Center (US)
- Space Telescope Science Institute (US)
- Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Academia Sinica (TW)
- Institute of Space Sciences (ES)
- University of Arizona (US)
- University of Hertfordshire (GB)
- Radboud University Nijmegen (NL)
- Tel Aviv University (IL)
- Armagh Observatory & Planetarium (GB)
- Ghent University (BE)
- Institut d'Estudis Espacials de Catalunya (ES)
- Gemini North Observatory (US)
- Royal Observatory (GB)
- Max Planck Institute for Astronomy (DE)
- Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté (FR)
- Institute of Astronomy (RU)
- Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Firenze (IT)
- Flatiron Health (United States) (US)
- Flatiron Institute (US)
- European Space Research and Technology Centre (NL)
- University of Florence (IT)
- Space Research Organisation Netherlands (NL)
- UK Astronomy Technology Centre (GB)
- Universitat de Barcelona (ES)
- Friedrich Schiller University Jena (DE)
- University of Missouri (US)
- University of Amsterdam (NL)
- KU Leuven (BE)
Publication Details
- Journal
- The Astrophysical Journal
- Published
- 2025-06-24
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/add73b
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 1.15
Funders
- National Science Foundation
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- Space Telescope Science Institute
- Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades
- European Space Agency
- European Commission
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
- Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt
- Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek
- Israel Science Foundation
- National Science and Technology Council
- Agencia Estatal de Investigación
- Core Research for Evolutional Science and Technology