Oxide and sulphide minerals are expected to occur in diverse astronomical environments. However, optical constants for such minerals are either lacking or poorly characterized. Minimizing errors in laboratory data, while extrapolating over wide frequency ranges, is the focus of this report. We present reflection and absorption spectra of single‐crystal MgO from about ∼100 to 18 000 cm−1 (∼100 to 0.5 μm), and derive emissivity, dielectric and optical functions (n and k) using classical dispersion analysis and supplementary data to ensure that the reflectivity values are correct at the low‐ and high‐frequency limits. Absorbance spectra of thin films of oxides (MgO, CaO, FeO and ZnO) and sulphides (MgS, CaS and FeS) are in good agreement with available reflectivity measurements, and provide information on the various effects of chemical composition, structure and optical depth. The greatest mismatch occurs for MgO, connected with this compound having the broadest peak in reflectance. The ferrous compounds (FeO and FeS) have relatively weak infrared features and may be difficult to detect in astronomical environments. Previous optical data based on transmission spectra of dispersions have underestimated the strength of the main infrared features because this approach includes spectral artefacts that arise from the presence of opaque particulates, or from non‐uniform optical depth. We show that areal coverage, not grain size, is the key factor in altering absorption spectra from the intrinsic values, and discuss how to account for ‘light leakage’ in interpreting astronomical data. Previous reflectivity data on polycrystals differ from intrinsic values because of the presence of additional, internal reflections, creating errors in the derived optical functions. We use classical dispersion analysis and supplemental data from optical microscopy to provide correct n‐ and k‐values for FeO from the far‐infrared to the visible, which can then be used in radiative transfer models. Thin‐film absorption data are also affected by internal reflections in the transparent regions: we show how to recognize these features and how to obtain the absorption coefficient, n, and k from thin‐film infrared data on CaO, CaS and MgS using the damped harmonic oscillator model.

Crystals of pyroxene are common in meteorites but few compositions have been recognized in astronomical environments due to the limited chemistries included in laboratory studies. We present quantitative room-temperature spectra of 17 Mg– Fe– and Ca–bearing ortho- and clinopyroxenes, and a Ca-pyroxenoid in order to discern trends indicative of crystal structure and a wide range of composition. Data are produced using a Diamond Anvil Cell: our band strengths are up to 6 times higher than those measured in KBr or polyethylene dispersions, which include variations in path length (from grain size) and surface reflections that are not addressed in data processing. Pyroxenes have varied spectra: only two bands, at 10.22 μm and 15.34 μm in enstatite (En99), are common to all. Peak-wavelengths generally increase as Mg is replaced by Ca or Fe. However, two bands in MgFe-pyroxenes shift to shorter wavelengths as the Fe component increases from 0 to 60 per cent. A high-intensity band shifts from 11.6 μm to 11.2 μm and remains at 11.2 μm as Fe increases to 100 per cent; it resembles an astronomical feature normally identified with olivine or forsterite. The distinctive pyroxene bands between 13  and 16 μm show promise for their identification in Mid-Infrared-Instrument (MIRI) spectra obtained with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). The many pyroxene bands between 40 and 80 μm could be diagnositic of silicate mineralogy if data were obtained with the proposed Space Infrared Telescope for Cosmology and Astrophysics (SPICA). Our data indicate that comparison between room-temperature laboratory bands for enstatite and cold ∼10 − K astronomical dust features at wavelengths ≳ 28 μm can result in the identification of (Mg,Fe)- pyroxenes that contain 7–15 per cent less Fe– than their true values because some temperature shifts mimic some compositional shifts. Therefore some astronomical silicates may contain more Fe, and less Mg, than previously thought.