Modelling the astronomical silicate features – I. On the spectrum subtraction method

The assumption of additive absorptivity by different components in compound particles is a widely used method applied in the literature to the analysis of the chemical and structural properties of astronomical (circumstellar, interstellar, protostellar and cometary) silicates as well as other materials. The errors intrinsic in this additivity assumption, which, in application to astronomical spectra, amounts in some cases to spectrum subtraction, have not always been adequately considered in previous works on silicate mineralogy. The failings in the ‘spectrum subtraction method’ (intrinsically the same as the additive absorptivity assumption) are discussed here in terms of silicate core–ice mantle grains with various shapes. It is shown that these assumptions result in substantial errors for spherical grains. For spheroidal grains, the errors are less significant and the spectrum subtraction method can be used to remove the ice mantle effects. It is demonstrated that there is no significant improvement by considering a distribution of spheroidal shapes. It is further shown that the presence of additional organic mantles substantially modifies the silicate mineralogy interpretation.