On the Presence of Phyllosilicate Minerals in the Interstellar Grains

The composition of the interstellar silicate dust is investigated. Condensation or alteration of silicate grains at temperatures of a few hundred degrees, in the presence of H_2O, would result in hydrous or phyllosilicates, the silicate type most abundant in the type I carbonaceous chondrites. Infrared spectra of small particles (∼ 0.1 μ) of the high temperature condensates, olivine and pyroxene, at 300 K and 4 K do not give a good match to the interstellar absorption band near 9.8 μ. Laboratory spectra of several phyllosilicates give better agreement as does the spectrum of a carbonaceous chondrite. We propose that the silicates in the interstellar grains are predominantly phyllosilicates and suggest additional spectral tests for this hypothesis