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The Contribution of Kuiper Belt Dust Grains to the Inner Solar System

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 February 2018

Jer-Chyi Liou ,
Herbert A. Zook  and
Stanley F. Dermott
Jer-Chyi Liou
Affiliation:
NASA/Johnson Space Center
Herbert A. Zook
Affiliation:
NASA/Johnson Space Center
Stanley F. Dermott
Affiliation:
University of Florida

Abstract

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The recent discovery of the so-called Kuiper belt objects has prompted the idea that these objects produce dust grains that may contribute significantly to the interplanetary dust population at 1 AU. We have completed a numerical study of the orbital evolution of dust grains, of diameters 1 to 9 μm, that originate in the region of the Kuiper belt. Our results show that about 80% of the grains are ejected from the Solar System by the giant planets while the remaining 20% of the grains evolve all the way to the Sun. Surprisingly, these dust grains have small orbital eccentricities and inclinations when they cross the orbit of the Earth. This makes them behave more like asteroidal than cometary-type dust particles. This also enhances their chances to be captured by the Earth and makes them a possible source of the collected interplanetary dust particles (IDPs); in particular, they represent a possible source that brings primitive/organic materials from the outer Solar System to the Earth.

When collisions with interstellar dust grains are considered, however, Kuiper belt dust grains larger than about 9 μm appear likely to be collisionally shattered before they can evolve to the inner part of the Solar System. Therefore, Kuiper belt dust grains may not, as they are expected to be small, contribute significantly to the zodiacal light.

Type
IV. Origin of the Interplanetary Dust Cloud
Information
International Astronomical Union Colloquium , Volume 150: Physics, Chemistry and Dynamics of Interplanetary Dust , 1996 , pp. 163 - 166
Copyright
Copyright © Astronomical Society of the Pacific 1996

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