scholarly journals In-Situ Exploration of Dust in the Solar System and Initial Results from the Galileo Dust Detector

1991 ◽  
Vol 126 ◽  
pp. 21-28
Author(s):  
E. Grün ◽  
H. Fechtig ◽  
M. S. Hanner ◽  
J. Kissel ◽  
B.-A. Lindblad ◽  
...  

AbstractIn-situ measurements of interplanetary dust have been performed in the heliocentric distance range from 0.3 AU out to 18 AU. Due to their small sensitive areas (typically 0.01 m2for the highly sensitive impact ionization sensors) or low mass sensitivities (≥10−9g of the large area penetration detectors) previous instruments recorded only a few 100 impacts during their lifetimes. Nevertheless, important information on the distribution of dust in interplanetary space has been obtained between 0.3 and 18 AU distance from the Sun. The Galileo dust detector combines the high mass sensitivity of impact ionization detectors (10−15g) together with a large sensitive area (0.1 m2). The Galileo spacecraft was launched on October 18, 1989 and is on its solar system cruise towards Jupiter. Initial measurements of the dust flux from 0.7 to 1.2 AU are presented.

2019 ◽  
Vol 492 (1) ◽  
pp. 223-231 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xinwu Cao ◽  
Andrzej A Zdziarski

ABSTRACT The high-mass accreting binary Cyg X-3 is distinctly different from low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) in having powerful radio and γ-ray emitting jets in its soft spectral state. However, the transition from the hard state to the soft one is first associated with quenching of the hard-state radio emission, as in LMXBs. The powerful soft-state jets in Cyg X-3 form, on average, ∼50 d later. We interpret the initial jet quenching as due to the hard-state vertical magnetic field quickly diffusing away in the thin disc extending to the innermost stable circular orbit in the soft state, or, if that field is produced in situ, also cessation of its generation. The subsequent formation of the powerful jets occurs due to advection of the magnetic field from the donor. We find this happens only above certain threshold accretion rate associated with appearance of magnetically driven outflows. The ∼50 d lag is of the order of the viscous time-scale in the outer disc, while the field advection is much faster. This process does not happen in LMXBs due to the magnetic fluxes available from their donors being lower than that for the wind accretion from the Wolf–Rayet donor of Cyg X-3. In our model, the vertical magnetic field in the hard state, required to form the jets both in Cyg X-3 and LMXBs, is formed in situ rather than advected from the donor. Our results provide a unified scenario of the soft and hard states in both Cyg X-3 and LMXBs.


2003 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 356-370 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Busso ◽  
R. Gallino ◽  
G. J. Wasserburg

AbstractWe discuss possible stellar origins of short-lived radioactive nuclei with meanlife τ ≤ 100 Myr, which were shown to be alive in the Early Solar System (ESS). We first review current ideas on the production of nuclides having 10 ≤ τ ≤ 100 Myr, which presumably derive from the continuous interplay of galactic astration, nucleosynthesis from massive supernovae and free decay in the interstellar medium. The abundance of the shorter lived 53Mn might be explained by this same scenario. Then we consider the nuclei 107Pd, 26Al, 41Ca and 60Fe, whose early solar system abundances are too high to have originated in this way. Present evidence favours a stellar origin, particularly for 107Pd, 26Al and 60Fe, rather than an in situ production by energetic solar particles. The idea of an encounter (rather close in time and space) between the forming Sun and a dying star is therefore discussed: this star may or may not have also triggered the solar formation. Recent nucleosynthesis calculations for the yields of the relevant short-lived isotopes and of their stable reference nuclei are discussed. Massive stars evolving to type II supernovae (either leaving a neutron star or a black hole as a remnant) seem incapable of explaining the four most critical ESS radioactivities in their observed abundance ratios. An asymptotic giant branch (AGB) star seems to be a viable source, especially if of relatively low initial mass (M ≤ 3 M⊙) and with low neutron exposure: this model can provide a solution for 26Al, 41Ca and 107Pd, with important contributions to 60Fe, which are inside the present uncertainty range of the 60Fe early solar system abundance. Such a model requires that 26Al is produced substantially on the AGB by cool bottom processing. The remaining inventory of short-lived species in the solar nebula would then be attributed to the continuous galactic processing, with the exception of 10Be, which must reflect production by later proton bombardment at a low level during early solar history.


1995 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
pp. 351-392 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martha S. Hanner

Study of the dust in circumstellar disks around young stars is currently an extremely active area in astronomy. There is little doubt that accretion disks are a natural part of protostellar evolution. Much recent observational and theoretical work is giving us a clearer picture of the physical conditions in dust disks and their evolutionary progression. IRAS observations revealed that many main-sequence stars, such as p Pictoris, have circumstellar disks. But whether these disks are related to planetary formation is not yet understood.A portion of the dust in disks around young stars ultimately may be incorporated into planetary systems. Thus, study of the dust in our own solar system complements the remote sensing of protostellar regions and aids in reconstructing the evolutionary history of the dust. Since comets formed in the cold outer regions of the solar nebula, they may contain intact interstellar grains. As the comets lose material during passage through the warm inner solar system, some of these grains will be released into interplanetary space. Technical advances now allow analysis of individual micrometer or smaller grains in interplanetary dust particles and primitive meteorite samples. Isotopic anomalies and patterns of crystal growth in these particles are yielding tantalizing clues about the interstellar material incorporated into these solar system samples.


2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (S332) ◽  
pp. 196-201
Author(s):  
Maria Nikolayevna Drozdovskaya ◽  
Ewine F. van Dishoeck ◽  
Martin Rubin ◽  
Jes Kristian Jørgensen ◽  
Kathrin Altwegg

AbstractThe chemical evolution of a star- and planet-forming system begins in the prestellar phase and proceeds across the subsequent evolutionary phases. The chemical trail from cores to protoplanetary disks to planetary embryos can be studied by comparing distant young protostars and comets in our Solar System. One particularly chemically rich system that is thought to be analogous to our own is the low-mass IRAS 16293-2422. ALMA-PILS observations have made the study of chemistry on the disk scales (<100 AU) of this system possible. Under the assumption that comets are pristine tracers of the outer parts of the innate protosolar disk, it is possible to compare the composition of our infant Solar System to that of IRAS 16293-2422. The Rosetta mission has yielded a wealth of unique in situ measurements on comet 67P/C-G, making it the best probe to date. Herein, the initial comparisons in terms of the chemical composition and isotopic ratios are summarized. Much work is still to be carried out in the future as the analysis of both of these data sets is still ongoing.


Exploration by space missions of the near-nucleus regions of comets Halley and Grigg-Skjellerup has resulted in valuable but expensive snapshots of cometary phenomena. The ‘ground truth’ from such missions, which can be established only by this means of dedicated space exploration, provides essential inputs to models of cometary processes. It also gives calibration data for a very wide base of cometary and asteroidal observations, past, present and future. Seen as objects which are both eroded by impacts from interplanetary dust and also the progenitors of interplanetary dust, we find both asteroids and comets are needed to contribute to this population. Contrary to expectations, as new data on the asteroids and comets is analysed, we find the differences between the two classes of primordial body is very much less distinct; accounting for the interplanetary distribution and properties of dust mass requires not only both classes of object but also a distribution of mixed classes. ESA’s newly selected cometary mission Rosetta will offer a unique opportunity, during a rendezvous encounter from aphelion to perihelion, for the extended and detailed in situ observations of a target comet. It will also act as a valuable focus on the nature and role of comets in both the origin and development of the Solar System.


1994 ◽  
Vol 160 ◽  
pp. 367-380
Author(s):  
Eberhard Grün

In-situ measurements of micrometeoroids provide information on the spatial distribution of interplanetary dust and its dynamical properties. Pioneers 10 and 11, Galileo and Ulysses spaceprobes took measurements of interplanetary dust from 0.7 to 18 AU distance from the sun. Distinctly different populations of dust particles exist in the inner and outer solar system. In the inner solar system, out to about 3 AU, zodiacal dust particles are recognized by their scattered light, their thermal emission and by in-situ detection from spaceprobes. These particles orbit the sun on low inclination (i ≤ 30°) and moderate eccentricity (e ≤ 0.6) orbits. Their spatial density falls off with approximately the inverse of the solar distance. Dust particles on high inclination or even retrograde trajectories dominate the dust population outside about 3 AU. The dust detector on board the Ulysses spaceprobe identified interstellar dust sweeping through the outer solar system on hyperbolic trajectories. Within about 2 AU from Jupiter Ulysses discovered periodic streams of dust particles originating from within the jovian system.


2009 ◽  
Vol 5 (H15) ◽  
pp. 746-747
Author(s):  
Thierry Montmerle ◽  
Matthieu Gounelle ◽  
Georges Meynet

AbstractThe early solar system represents the only case we have of a circumstellar disk that can be investigated “in situ” -albeit 4.6 Gyr after its formation. Meteorites studies give mounting evidence for an intense irradiation phase of the young circumsolar disk by energetic particles, and also for contamination by products of high-mass stellar and/or explosive nucleosynthesis. We thus discuss the conditions of the birth of the solar system in a high-mass star environment.


1996 ◽  
Vol 150 ◽  
pp. 223-226 ◽  
Author(s):  
D.E. Brownlee ◽  
D. Burnett ◽  
B. Clark ◽  
M. S. Hanner ◽  
F. Horz ◽  
...  

AbstractSTARDUST, a Discovery-class mission, will return intact samples of cometary dust and volatiles from comet P/Wild 2, as well as samples of the interstellar dust moving through the solar system. Dust capture utilizes aerogel, a microporous silica that is capable of intact capture of hypervelocity particles. A navigation camera, an in situ dust analyzer, and a dust flux monitor complete the payload. The Wild 2 flyby takes place in January 2004, with Earth return in January 2006.


2019 ◽  
Vol 632 ◽  
pp. A19 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. Taquet ◽  
E. Bianchi ◽  
C. Codella ◽  
M. V. Persson ◽  
C. Ceccarelli ◽  
...  

Methanol is a key species in astrochemistry because it is the most abundant organic molecule in the interstellar medium and is thought to be the mother molecule of many complex organic species. Estimating the deuteration of methanol around young protostars is of crucial importance because it highly depends on its formation mechanisms and the physical conditions during its moment of formation. We analyse several dozen transitions from deuterated methanol isotopologues coming from various existing observational datasets obtained with the IRAM-PdBI and ALMA sub-millimeter interferometers to estimate the methanol deuteration surrounding three low-mass protostars on Solar System scales. A population diagram analysis allows us to derive a [CH2DOH]/[CH3OH] abundance ratio of 3–6% and a [CH3OD]/[CH3OH] ratio of 0.4–1.6% in the warm inner (≤100–200 AU) protostellar regions. These values are typically ten times lower than those derived with previous single-dish observations towards these sources, but they are one to two orders of magnitude higher than the methanol deuteration measured in massive hot cores. Dust temperature maps obtained from Herschel and Planck observations show that massive hot cores are located in warmer molecular clouds than low-mass sources, with temperature differences of ~10 K. The comparison of our measured values with the predictions of the gas-grain astrochemical model GRAINOBLE shows that such a temperature difference is sufficient to explain the different deuteration observed in low- to high-mass sources. This suggests that the physical conditions of the molecular cloud at the origin of the protostars mostly govern the present-day observed deuteration of methanol and therefore of more complex organic molecules. Finally, the methanol deuteration measured towards young solar-type protostars on Solar System scales seems to be higher by a factor of ~5 than the upper limit in methanol deuteration estimated in comet Hale-Bopp. If this result is confirmed by subsequent observations of other comets, it would imply that an important reprocessing of the organic material likely occurred in the solar nebula during the formation of the Solar System.


2020 ◽  
Vol 643 ◽  
pp. A96
Author(s):  
Harald Krüger ◽  
Peter Strub ◽  
Max Sommer ◽  
Nicolas Altobelli ◽  
Hiroshi Kimura ◽  
...  

Context. Cometary meteoroid trails exist in the vicinity of comets, forming a fine structure of the interplanetary dust cloud. The trails consist predominantly of the largest cometary particles (with sizes of approximately 0.1 mm–1 cm), which are ejected at low speeds and remain very close to the comet orbit for several revolutions around the Sun. In the 1970s, two Helios spacecraft were launched towards the inner Solar System. The spacecraft were equipped with in situ dust sensors which measured the distribution of interplanetary dust in the inner Solar System for the first time. Recently, when re-analysing the Helios data, a clustering of seven impacts was found, detected by Helios in a very narrow region of space at a true anomaly angle of 135 ± 1°, which the authors considered as potential cometary trail particles. However, at the time, this hypothesis could not be studied further. Aims. We re-analyse these candidate cometary trail particles in the Helios dust data to investigate the possibility that some or all of them indeed originate from cometary trails and we constrain their source comets. Methods. The Interplanetary Meteoroid Environment for eXploration (IMEX) dust streams in space model is a new and recently published universal model for cometary meteoroid streams in the inner Solar System. We use IMEX to study the traverses of cometary trails made by Helios. Results. During ten revolutions around the Sun, the Helios spacecraft intersected 13 cometary trails. For the majority of these traverses the predicted dust fluxes are very low. In the narrow region of space where Helios detected the candidate dust particles, the spacecraft repeatedly traversed the trails of comets 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdušáková and 72P/Denning-Fujikawa with relatively high predicted dust fluxes. The analysis of the detection times and particle impact directions shows that four detected particles are compatible with an origin from these two comets. By combining measurements and simulations we find a dust spatial density in these trails of approximately 10−8–10−7 m−3. Conclusions. The identification of potential cometary trail particles in the Helios data greatly benefited from the clustering of trail traverses in a rather narrow region of space. The in situ detection and analysis of meteoroid trail particles which can be traced back to their source bodies by spacecraft-based dust analysers provides a new opportunity for remote compositional analysis of comets and asteroids without the necessity to fly a spacecraft to or even land on those celestial bodies. This provides new science opportunities for future missions like DESTINY+ (Demonstration and Experiment of Space Technology for INterplanetary voYage with Phaethon fLyby and dUst Science), Europa Clipper, and the Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe.


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