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Dynamics of Micrometeoroids

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 August 2015

E. Grün  and
H. A. Zook
E. Grün
Affiliation:
Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik, Heidelberg, FRG
H. A. Zook
Affiliation:
NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, USA

Extract

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Recent observations of zodiacal light have established a reliable and consistent picture of the spatial distribution of interplanetary dust in the ecliptic plane. The spatial density nr varies with heliocentric distance r according to a power law nr ∝ r−ν. From Helios observations an exponent v = 1.3 is derived for the distance interval from 0.08 A.U. to 1 A.U. (Link et al. 1976). Outside the earth's orbit the Pioneer 10 and 11 results suggest a higher exponent v = 1.5 for the distance interval from 1 A.U. to 3.3. A.U. (Hanner et al., 1976). Giese and Grün (1976) showed that the results from zodiacal light observations are compatible with the micrometeoroid fluxes derived from in situ measurements and lunar crater statistics. They found that micrometeoroids in the size range from 10 μm to 100 μm radii (corresponding roughly to 10−8g to 10−5g) contribute most to the zodiacal light brightness.

The orbital distribution of large interplanetary particles (10−6 g < m < 10−3g) is known from meteor observations. Sekanina and Southworth (1975) reported average orbital elements of these particles: ā ∼ 1.25 A.U., ē ∼ 0.4 and ī ∼ 20°. Orbital information on micrometeoroids (m < 10−8g) is obtained from in situ detectors on board the Pioneer 8 and 9 and Helios 1 spaceprobes and the HEOS-2 satellite. Characteristics of the different micrometeoroid experiments are given in Table 1. There is almost no time overlap in the data taking intervals of the experiments. Therefore one has to assume that there are no time variations of the meteoroid flux on the time scale of 1 to 10 years if one compares the results from the different experiments. This assumption may be violated for the smallest of the observed particles (m < 10−13g) due to strong electromagnetic interaction of these particles with the interplanetary magnetic field (Morfill and Grün 1979).

Type
III: The Interplanetary Dust Complex 1. Sources, Evolution, and Dynamics
Information
Symposium - International Astronomical Union , Volume 90: Solid Particles in the Solar System , 1980 , pp. 293 - 298
Copyright
Copyright © Reidel 1980 

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