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Researchers discover carriers of astronomical 2175 extinction line in presolar grains A collaborative team of researchers has discovered what turns the lights out from space. Using sophisticated features on a transmission electron microscope, John P. Bradley, Ph.D., Director of the Institute for Geophysics and Planetary Physics at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, has discovered that organic carbon and amorphous silicates in interstellar grains embedded within interplanetary dust particles (IDPs) are the carriers of the astronomical 2175 #1045; extinction line.Discovered by astronomers more than 40 years ago, the astronomical extinction line occurs at a wavelength of 2175 Angstroms, blocking light from stars from reaching the Earth due to the absorption of light by dust in the interstellar medium. One Angstrom (#1045; ) is one one-hundred millionth of a centimeter.
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