The flow of interstellar dust through the solar system: the role of dust charging

Journal Article · Tue Nov 29 00:00:00 EST 2011 · AIP Conference Proceedings

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3659764· OSTI ID:21612200

Sterken, V J ^[1]; Altobelli, N; Schwehm, G ^[2]; Kempf, S ^[3]; Srama, R ^[1]; Strub, P ^[4]; Gruen, E ^[1]

---

1. MPIK, Saupfercheckweg 1, D-69117 Heidelberg (Germany)
2. ESA-ESAC - P.O. Box 78, E-28691 Villanueva de la Canada, Madrid (Spain)
3. LASP, University of Colorado, 1234 Innovation Dr, Boulder, CO, 80303-7814 (United States)
4. MPS, Max-Planck-Strasse 2, D-37191 Katlenburg-Lindau (Germany)

Interstellar dust can enter the solar system through the relative motion of the Sun with respect to the Local Interstellar Cloud. The trajectories of the dust through the solar system are not only influenced by gravitation and solar radiation pressure forces, but also by the Lorentz forces due to the interaction of the interplanetary magnetic field with the charged dust particles. The interplanetary magnetic field changes on two major time scales: 25 days (solar rotation frequency) and 22 years (solar cycle). The short-term variability averages out for regions that are not too close (>{approx}2 AU) to the Sun. This interplanetary magnetic field variability causes a time-variability in the interstellar dust densities, that is correlated to the solar cycle.In this work we characterize the flow of interstellar dust through the solar system using simulations of the dust trajectories. We start from the simple case without Lorentz forces, and expand to the full simulation. We pay attention to the different ways of modeling the interplanetary magnetic field, and discuss the influence of the dust parameters on the resulting flow patterns. We also discuss the possibilities of using this modeling for prediction of dust fluxes for different space missions or planets, and we pay attention to where simplified models are justified, and where or when a full simulation, including all forces is necessary. One of the aims of this work is to understand measurements of spacecraft like Ulysses, Cassini and Stardust.

• OSTI ID: 21612200
• Journal Information: AIP Conference Proceedings, Vol. 1397, Issue 1; Conference: 6. international conference on the physics of dusty plasmas, Garmisch-Partenkirchen (Germany), 16-20 May 2011; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.3659764; (c) 2011 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0094-243X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTROPHYSICS
COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
ASTROPHYSICS
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
DENSITY
DUSTS
GRAVITATION
INTERPLANETARY MAGNETIC FIELDS
LORENTZ FORCE
PARTICLES
PLANETS
PLASMA
ROTATION
SOLAR CYCLE
SOLAR RADIATION
SOLAR SYSTEM
SUN
TRAJECTORIES
MAGNETIC FIELDS
MAIN SEQUENCE STARS
MOTION
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
PHYSICS
RADIATIONS
SIMULATION
STARS
STELLAR RADIATION