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The small solid particles present in the interstellar medium are called dust grains or often simply either dust or grains. Most of them are only a few tenths of a μm in size. They consist of silicates and carbon compounds, coated in the coldest regions with icy mantles. They represent 1–2 % of the mass of interstellar clouds. Their origin and composition are discussed in interstellar dust.
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© 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Irvine, W.M. (2014). Dust Grain. In: Amils, R., et al. Encyclopedia of Astrobiology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_463-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_463-3
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Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-27833-4
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