太阳系尘埃等离子体研究

综述了太阳系尘埃等离子体中的充电机制和波动过程以及与之有关的若干空间物理现象,内容包括太阳系等离子体中尘埃表面的平衡电势,带电尘埃在空间环境中的受力与运动,行星环内沿的弥漫扩散,轮辐结构的成困,彗星环境中尘埃的静电爆裂,尘埃彗尾的形态演化,天王星窄环的稳定性等问题．     

奇妙的宇宙尘埃

尘埃无处不在。太空中也发现有尘埃。但是星际尘埃比我们家里橱柜上的灰尘重要得多。没有星际尘埃,就没有你和我,也没有地球存在。     

空间尘埃等离子体Maser效应以及所导致的Langmuir辐射

本从弱湍动等离子体理论出发,由Ｖｌａｓｏｖ方程导出Ｍａｓｅｒ效应作用机制下共振波的演化规律,并且讨论了尘埃等离子体电子束入射情况下,共振Ｌａｎｇｍｕｉｒ波的增长率,研究结果表明,Ｍａｓｅｒ效应比其它不稳定性（如本中论及的束流不稳定性等）能更好的解释空间中反常Ｌａｎｇｍｕｉｒ辐射现象。     

半人马座A——一个迷人的活动星系

哈勃空间望远镜拍摄的活动星系半人马座A。在星系核心的前面是尘埃的盘面,一个醒目的暗带环绕着这个星系一其中年老的星族发出黄白色的柔和色彩;图中的蓝色结构是新生恒星组成的星团,燃烧般的橙色气体中点缀着许多尘埃纤维的剪影。     

河外星际尘埃辐射对微波背景辐射的影响

本文借助于观测到的大、小麦哲伦云的星际尘埃辐射，估计总星系内的“冷”星际尘埃热再辐射对宇宙微波背景辐射的影响．结果表明：总星系内的星际“冷”尘埃的热辐射所形成的背景辐射对微波背景辐射的扰动强烈地依赖于宇宙减速因子和“冷”尘埃量，在宇宙背景探测者（ＣＯＢＥ）的观测结果的限制下，无论宇宙减速因子取何种值，“冷”尘埃所占的比例都是非常少的，如果Ｏｓｔｒｉｋｅｒ所作的平均每个星系内由尘埃产生的蓝光光深τＢ＝０．５的假定是合理的，那么星际尘埃量随温度的分布是非常不均匀的。     

天体物理环境中的硅酸盐尘粒

硅酸盐尘粒是宇宙尘埃的主要成分之一,它广泛存在于许多天体物理环境中,其特性随环境而变化。由于近年来观测数据的不断增加和红外光谱质量的逐步提高,宇宙空间中的硅酸盐尘粒正受到越来越多的关注．该文详细地介绍了在各种天体环境(星际空间、演化晚期恒星的星周尘埃包层、绕年轻恒星和主序星的星周尘埃盘、彗星的彗发和行星际空间)中的硅酸盐尘粒的观测特征,并分别对其物理和化学性质进行了综合比较．观测已经证实在星际尘埃演化的前身(演化晚期恒星的星周尘埃包层)和其遗迹(彗星)均有可观数量的结晶硅酸盐存在。但是至今还没有在其中间态(弥散星际介质)找到结晶硅酸盐存在的证据。这一尚未解决的难题突出了结晶态硅酸盐在天体物理研究中的重要意义。     

空间尘埃等离子体Maser效应以及所导致的Langmuir辐射

本文从弱湍动等离子体理论出发,由Ｖｌａｓｏｖ方程导出了Ｍａｓｅｒ效应作用机制下共振波的演化规律;并且讨论了尘埃等离子体电子束入射情况下,共振Ｌａｎｇｍｕｉｒ波的增长率．研究结果表明,Ｍａｓｅｒ效应比其它不稳定性（如本文中论及的束流不稳定性等）能更好地解释空间中的反常Ｌａｎｇｍｕｉｒ辐射现象．     

为什么恒星形成的研究仍处于唯象阶段？

天文学家经过长期的研究发现,恒星形成与星系的重要组成成分——星际介质有着密切关系。星际介质（interstellar medium）,顾名思义,是指恒星问弥漫的各种物质,主要是由大量的气体和尘埃组成。它们一般都非常稀薄,弥散在星际空间中。     

宇宙信息

双星系统也许不适宜生命形成 根据美国宇航局斯皮策空间望远镜的观测数据,一项最新的研究显示紧密的双星系统也许并不是生命形成的最佳场所。“斯皮策”在三个密近绕转的双星系统周围发现了惊人的大量尘埃,天文学家认为它们可能是行星间剧烈碰撞的产物。     

彗星等离子体某些特征的讨论

本文讨论了彗星中尘埃粒子的充电机制 ,带电特性和平衡电势的变化规律 ,分析了彗星尘埃的破碎特性和临界半径 ,得出了很有意义的结果     

2002 Kuiper prize lecture: Dust Astronomy

Dust particles, like photons, carry information from remote sites in space and time. From knowledge of the dust particles' birthplace and their bulk properties, we can learn about the remote environment out of which the particles were formed. This approach is called “Dust Astronomy” which is carried out by means of a dust telescope on a Dust Observatory in space. Targets for a dust telescope are the local interstellar medium and nearby star forming regions, as well as comets and asteroids. Dust from interstellar and interplanetary sources is distinguished by accurately sensing their trajectories. Trajectory sensors may use the electric charge signals that are induced when charged grains fly through the detector. Modern in-situ dust impact detectors are capable of providing mass, speed, physical and chemical information of dust grains in space. A Dust Observatory mission is feasible with state-of-the-art technology. It will (1) provide the distinction between interstellar dust and interplanetary dust of cometary and asteroidal origin, (2) determine the elemental composition of impacting dust particles, and (3) monitor the fluxes of various dust components as a function of direction and particle masses.     

Dust particles in the atmospheres of terrestrial planets and their roles for prebiotic chemistry: An overview

The available literature on sources, chemical composition, and importance of dust particles for the origins of life is analyzed. The most abundant sources of dust on the early terrestrial planets are sedimentation of interplanetary dust, meteoritic/cometary impacts, and volcanic eruptions. Interplanetary dust can originate directly from interstellar space, from evaporation of cometary bodies, from collisional destruction of asteroidal and meteoritic bodies, and nucleation in sunspots. Many rather complex organic species, including those of prebiotic interest, have been identified in the interstellar medium and cometary dust. Some of them are believed to formvia catalytic processes on the surfaces of dust particles. However, the mechanisms are not known, and even simulating experiments are difficult to perform due to insufficient knowledge of physical conditions in the space media and of chemical composition and properties of the dust. Besides the catalytic roles, cometary dust is believed to be the best delivery vehicle for organic matter of space origin to the atmospheres of terrestrial planets. Abundant sources of catalytically active fine dust can be volcanoes. Various organic and biological compounds have been found in terrestrial volcanic gases and ash, which are assumed to formvia the catalytic Fischer-Tropsch reactions. At present the eruptions on the Earth provide a unique opportunity to observein situ the formation of organic matter, and knowledge of the ash composition and local conditions allows to perform simulating experiments.     

BN天体尘壳性质的探讨

本文对ＢＮ天体的红外连续辐射多波段测光资料进行理论分析研究，采用光学薄的球对称尘壳模型，推算出ＢＮ天体尘壳的物理参数：光学厚度及红外连续发射率的波长分布，密度与温度的空间分布，尘壳总质量。     

DEVELOPMENT OF AN ADVANCED DUST TELESCOPE

There are different types of dust particles in interplanetary space, such as dust from comets and asteroids, and interstellar grains traversing the solar system. Based on experience with current space dust instruments, a novel dust telescope is being developed. A dust telescope is a combination of a dust trajectory sensor for the identification and an analyzer for the elemental composition of the dust. Dust particles’ trajectories are determined by the measurement of the electric signals that are induced when a charged grain flies through a position-sensitive electrode system. The objective of the trajectory sensor is to measure dust charges in the range 10⁻¹⁶–10⁻¹³ C and dust speeds in the range 6–100 km/s. First tests with a laboratory setup have been performed. The chemical analyzer will have an impact area of 0.1 m². It consists of a target with an acceleration grid and a single-stage reflectron for energy focusing, and a central ion detector. Results from SIMION simulations show that a mass resolution of M/ΔM>150 can be obtained.     

Ion-temperature-gradient driven modes in dust-contaminated plasma with nonthermal electron distribution and dust charge fluctuations

The effect of nonthermal electrons on ion-temperature-gradient (ITG) driven modes is investigated in the presence of variable dust charge and ion shear flow. The dust charge fluctuating expression is obtained in the presence of kappa distributed electrons. A dispersion relation is derived and analyzed numerically by choosing space plasma parameters of Jupiter/Saturn magnetospheres. It is found that the presence of nonthermal electrons population reduces the growth rate of ITG mode driven instability. The effects of ion temperature, electron density and magnetic field variation on the growth rate of ITG instability are presented numerically. It is also pointed out that the present results will be useful to understand the ITG driven modes with variable dust charge and kappa distributed electrons, present in most of the space plasma environments.     

Influence of the interplanetary magnetic field on cometary and primordial dust orbits: Applications of Lorentz scattering

The equations describing the change in orbital elements of interplanetary dust due to Lorentz-force accelerations are presented in a simplified form. Such accelerations depend on the charge state of the dust; results of theoretical calculations for five possible dust materials are presented. Under present-day conditions, it is possible that semiconducting material such as graphite might carry a net voltage near zero, compared with a roughly 10-V charge expected for other grains. The scattering of dust by a randomly changing magnetic field can be viewed analogously to the dust diffusing in space; the equations presented thus can be used to interpret observations of the present distribution of dust in terms of its possible sources and sinks. The stronger magnetic fields of the early solar system would have led to more vigorous scattering of the dust; particles as large as 1 mm could have been significantly transported by Lorentz scattering during this time.     

Ion-acoustic instability in a dusty negative ion plasma

The ion-acoustic instability in a dusty negative ion plasma is investigated, focusing on the parameter regime in which the negative ion density is much larger than the electron density. The dynamics of the massive dust grains are neglected, but collisions of electrons and ions with dust grains in addition to other collisional processes are taken into account. The presence of a population of charged dust can change the frequency of the fast wave, lead to additional damping due to ion–dust collisions, and change the conditions for wave growth. Applications to dusty negative ion plasmas in the laboratory and in space are discussed.     

Some Physical Processes in Dusty Plasmas

Ionized gases containing fine (μm to sub-μm sized) charged dust grains, referred to as dusty plasmas, occur in diverse cosmic and laboratory environments. Dust occurs in many space and astrophysical environments, including planetary rings, comets, the Earth's ionosphere, and interstellar molecular clouds. Dust also occurs in laboratory plasmas, including processing plasmas, and crystallized dusty plasmas. Charged dust can lead to various effects in a plasma. In this review, some physical processes in dusty plasmas are discussed, with an emphasis on applications to dusty plasmas in space. This includes theoretical work on several wave instabilities, the role of dust as an electron source, and Coulomb crystals of positively charged dust. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.