Sample return of interstellar matter (SARIM)

The scientific community has expressed strong interest to re-fly Stardust-like missions with improved instrumentation. We propose a new mission concept, SARIM, that collects interstellar and interplanetary dust particles and returns them to Earth. SARIM is optimised for the collection and discrimination of interstellar dust grains. Improved active dust collectors on-board allow us to perform in-situ determination of individual dust impacts and their impact location. This will provide important constraints for subsequent laboratory analysis. The SARIM spacecraft will be placed at the L2 libration point of the Sun–Earth system, outside the Earth’s debris belts and inside the solar-wind charging environment. SARIM is three-axes stabilised and collects interstellar grains between July and October when the relative encounter speeds with interstellar dust grains are lowest (4 to 20 km/s). During a 3-year dust collection period several hundred interstellar and several thousand interplanetary grains will be collected by a total sensitive area of 1 m². At the end of the collection phase seven collector modules are stored and sealed in a MIRKA-type sample return capsule. SARIM will return the capsule containing the stardust to Earth to allow for an extraction and investigation of interstellar samples by latest laboratory technologies.     

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.     

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.     

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。     

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.     

Surface thermoelastic erosion of atmosphereless solar system bodies under bombardment by multicharge cosmic ray ions

The mechanism of ion-stimulated erosion of atmosphereless solar system bodies is suggested and investigated. A theoretical model for the brittle surface erosion resulting under the effect of multicharge ion cosmic rays is analyzed. It is shown that the thermoelastic waves originated in the energetic track of a very heavy ion can result in the near-surface stresses exceeding the dynamic tensile strength of the surface material for any atmosphereless solar system body. The thermoelastic wave surface arrival yields brittle erosion of the material and ejection of this latter fragments (the track-breaking process). Thus ejected dust grains have plano-oblong shape, average mass on the order of 10^–17 g and velocity up to 400 m/sec providing the surface erosion rate of 10^–1 ÷ 3 · 10² »/year (near the Earth orbit) which depends upon the surface material (rock or ice). Possible track-breaking consequences, in particular, presence of the dust fraction of ultramicron grains and their aggregates on the lunar surface are discussed. Near the bodies with the radii from 10 to 300 km predicted is the existence of extended dust cocoons consisting of ultramicron and submicron grains. Smaller objects (asteroids, comets, smallest satellites of planets, meteoroids, etc.) can serve sources of permanent dust wind of ultramicron and submicron sized grains escaping from their surfaces. The interplanetary dust yield owing to the ion-stimulated erosion of these bodies is not less than 10¹² g/year. Possible interpreting in the frames of track-breaking process some observational data and effects, including existence of dust grains with the mass of 10^–18 ÷ 10^–17 g near the Halley's comet and the nature of 2060 Chiron dust coma is discussed. To prove the theory, observational identification and investigation of dust phenomena complex related to the ion-stimulated erosion of atmosphereless bodies, suggested is employing extreme ultraviolet and far infrared/submillimeter wavelengths, as well as polarimetric methods.     

Complex of Meteoroid Orbits with Eccentricities Near 1 and Higher

In our work, the method that can help to predict the existence of distant objects in the Solar system is demonstrated. This method is connected with statistical properties of a heliocentric orbital complex of meteoroids with high eccentricities. Heliocentric meteoroid orbits with high eccentricities are escape routes for dust material from distant parental objects with near-circular orbits to Earth-crossing orbits. Ground-based meteor observations yield trajectory information from which we can derive their place of possible origin: comets, asteroids, and other objects (e.g. Kuiper Objects) in the Solar system or even interstellar space. Statistical distributions of radius vectors of nodes, and other parameters of orbits of meteoroids contain key information about position of greater bodies. We analyze meteor orbits with high eccentricities that were registered in 1975–1976 in Kharkiv (Ukraine). The orbital data of the Kharkiv electronic catalogue are received from observations of radiometeors with masses 10⁻⁶−10⁻³ g.     

Active Cosmic Dust Collector

The Stardust mission returned two types of unprecedented extraterrestrial samples: the first samples of material from a known solar system body beyond the moon, the comet 81P/Wild2, and the first samples of contemporary interstellar dust. Both sets of samples were captured in aerogel and aluminum foil collectors and returned to Earth in January 2006. While the analysis of particles from comet Wild 2 yielded exciting new results, the search for and analysis of collected interstellar particles is more demanding and is ongoing.Novel dust instrumentation will tremendously improve future dust collection in interplanetary space: an Active Cosmic Dust Collector is a combination of an in-situ dust trajectory sensor (DTS) together with a dust collector consisting of aerogel and/or other collector materials, e.g. such as those used by the Stardust mission. Dust particles’ trajectories are determined by the measurement of induced electrical signals when charged particles fly through a position sensitive electrode system. The recorded waveforms enable the reconstruction of the velocity vector with high precision.The DTS described here was subject to performance tests at the Heidelberg dust accelerator at the same time as the recording of impact signals from potential collector materials. The tests with dust particles in the speed range from 3 to 40 km/s demonstrate that trajectories can be measured with accuracies of ～1° in direction and ～1% in speed. The sensitivity of the DTS electronics is of the order of 10^?16 C and thus the trajectory of cosmic dust particles as small as 0.4 μm size can be measured. The impact position on the collector can be determined with better than 1 mm precision, which will ease immensely the task of locating sub-micron-sized particles on the collector. Statistically significant numbers of trajectories of interplanetary and interstellar dust particles can thus be collected in interplanetary space and their compositions correlated with their trajectories.     

Oxygen isotopic composition of an enstatite ribbon of probable cometary origin

Filamentary enstatite crystals are found in interplanetary dust particles (IDPs) of likely cometary origin but are very rare or absent in meteorites. Crystallographic characteristics of filamentary enstatites indicate that they condensed directly from vapor. We measured the O isotopic composition of an enstatite ribbon from a giant cluster IDP to be δ¹⁸O = 25 ± 55, δ¹⁷O = ?19 ± 129, ?¹⁷O = ?32 ± 134 (2σ errors), which is inconsistent at the 2σ level with the composition of the Sun inferred from the Genesis solar wind measurements. The particle's O isotopic composition, consistent with the terrestrial composition, implies that it condensed from a gas of nonsolar O isotopic composition, possibly as a result of vaporization of disk region enriched in ¹⁶O‐depleted solids. The relative scarcity of filamentary enstatite in asteroids compared to comets implies either that this crystal condensed from dust vaporized in situ in the outer solar system where comets formed or it condensed in the inner solar system and was subsequently transported outward to the comet‐forming region.     

Serendipitous Asteroid Lightcurve Survey Using SuperWASP

The SuperWASP project is an ultra-wide angle search for extra solar planetary transits. However, it can also serendipitously detect solar system objects, such as asteroids and comets. Each SuperWASP instrument consists of up to eight cameras, combined with high-quality peltier-cooled CCDs, which photometrically survey large numbers of stars in the magnitude range 7–15. Each camera covers a 7.8 × 7.8 degree field of view. Located on La Palma, the SuperWASP-I instrument has been observing the Northern Hemisphere with five cameras since its inauguration in April 2004.The ultra-wide angle field of view gives SuperWASP the possibility of discovering new fast moving (near to Earth) asteroids that could have been missed by other instruments. However, it provides an excellent opportunity to produce a magnitude-limited lightcurve survey of known main belt asteroids. As slow moving asteroids stay within a single SuperWASP field for several weeks, and may be seen in many fields, a survey of all objects brighter than magnitude 15 is possible. This will provide a significant increase in the total number of lightcurves available for statistical studies without the inherent bias against longer periods present in the current data sets.We present the methodology used in the automated collection of asteroid data from SuperWASP and some of the first examples of lightcurves from numbered asteroids.     

Thermal Emission From The Dust Coma Of Comet Hale-Bopp And The Composition Of The Silicate Grains

The dust coma of comet Hale-Bopp was observed in the thermal infrared over a wide range in solar heating (R = 4.9–0.9 AU) and over the full wavelength range from 3 μm to 160 μm. Unusual early activity produced an extensive coma containing small warm refractory grains; already at 4.9 AU, the 10 μm silicate emission feature was strong and the color temperature was 30% above the equilibrium blackbody temperature. Near perihelion the high color temperature, strong silicate feature, and high albedo indicated a smaller mean grain size than in other comets. The 8–13 μm spectra revealed a silicate emission feature similar in shape to that seen in P/Halley and several new and long period comets. Detailed spectral structure in the feature was consistent over time and with different instruments; the main peaks occur at 9.3, 10.0 and 11.2 μm. These peaks can be identified with olivine and pyroxene minerals, linking the comet dust to the anhydrous chondritic aggregate interplanetary dust particles. Spectra at 16–40 μm taken with the ISO SWS displayed pronounced emission peaks due to Mg-rich crystalline olivine, consistent with the 11.2 μm peak. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Comet Grains: Their IR Emission and Their Relation to ISm Grains

Comets and the chondritic porous interplanetary dust particles (CP IDPs) that they shed in their comae are reservoirs of primitive solar nebula materials. The high porosity and fragility of cometary grains and CP IDPs, and anomalously high deuterium contents of highly fragile, pyroxene-rich Cluster IDPs imply these aggregate particles contain significant abundances of grains from the interstellar medium (ISM). IR spectra of comets (3–40 μm) reveal the presence of a warm (near-IR) featureless emission modeled by amorphous carbon grains. Broad andnarrow resonances near 10 and 20 microns are modeled by warm chondritic (50% Feand 50% Mg) amorphous silicates and cooler Mg-rich crystalline silicate minerals, respectively. Cometary amorphous silicates resonances are well matched by IRspectra of CP IDPs dominated by GEMS (0.1 μm silicate spherules) that are thought to be the interstellar Fe-bearing amorphous silicates produced in AGB stars. Acid-etched ultramicrotomed CP IDP samples, however, show that both the carbon phase (amorphous and aliphatic) and the Mg-rich amorphous silicate phase in GEMS are not optically absorbing. Rather, it is Fe and FeS nanoparticles embedded in the GEMS that makes the CP IDPs dark. Therefore, CP IDPs suggest significant processing has occurred in the ISM. ISM processing probably includes in He⁺ ion bombardment in supernovae shocks. Laboratory experiments show He⁺ ion bombardment amorphizes crystalline silicates, increases porosity, and reduces Fe into nanoparticles. Cometary crystalline silicate resonances are well matched by IR spectra of laboratory submicron Mg-rich olivine crystals and pyroxene crystals. Discovery of a Mg-pure olivine crystal in a Cluster IDP with isotopically anomalous oxygen indicates that a small fraction of crystalline silicates may have survived their journey from AGB stars through the ISM to the early solar nebula. The ISM does not have enough crystalline silicates (<5%), however, to account for the deduced abundance of crystalline silicates in comet dust. An insufficient source of ISMMg-rich crystals leads to the inference that most Mg-rich crystals in comets are primitive grains processed in the early solar nebula prior to their incorporation into comets. Mg-rich crystals may condense in the hot (～1450 K), inner zones of the early solar nebula and then travel large radial distances out to the comet-forming zone. On the other hand, Mg-rich silicate crystals may be ISM amorphous silicates annealed at ～1000 K and radially distributed out to the comet-forming zone or annealed in nebular shocks at ～5-10 AU. Determining the relative abundance of amorphous and crystalline silicatesin comets probes the relative contributions of ISM grains and primitive grains to small, icy bodies in the solar system. The life cycle of dust from its stardust origins through the ISM to its incorporation into comets is discussed.     

MODELING THE SPORADIC METEOROID BACKGROUND CLOUD

The orbital distributions of dust particles in interplanetary space are revised in the ESA meteoroid model to incorporate more observational data and to comply with the constraints due to the long-term particle dynamics under the planetary gravity and Poynting–Robertson effect. Infrared observations of the zodiacal cloud by the COBE Earth-bound observatory, flux measurements by the dust detectors on board Galileo and Ulysses spacecraft, and the crater size distributions on lunar rock samples retrieved by the Apollo missions are fused into a single model. Within the model, the orbital distributions are expanded into a sum of contributions due to a number of known sources, including the asteroid belt with the emphasis on the prominent families Themis, Koronis, Eos and Veritas, as well as comets on Jupiter-encountering orbits. An attempt to incorporate the meteor orbit database acquired by the Advanced Meteor Orbit Radar at Christchurch is also discussed. Work was done during D. Galligan’s stay at the University of Canterbury.     

Organics-glued dust aggregates in Halley's coma and some implications of the snow line inward motion for the formation of comets

In view of the solar nebula models, organics-glued dust aggregates (whose disintegration resulted in the two phenomena found in Halley's coma, the dust boundary and small-scale dust structures) originated due to coagulation of iceless dust particles somewhere within the snow line, and then were incorporated into Halley's nucleus as a consequence of the snow line inward motion. This implies that two types of comets exist: outer comets, formed entirely beyond the snow line, and inner comets, similar to Halley, which are bodies intermediate between outer comets and primitive asteroids. The presence of large iceless dust aggregates in nuclei of inner comets constrains the inward drift velocity of meter-sized dust bodies, which in turn implies that the radial transport of water in the solar nebula was predominantly outward. It is shown that in nuclei of inner comets: both the upper mass limit of iceless dust aggregates and the ice mantle thickness increase with decreasing formation heliocentric distance, while the cumulative mass distribution index decreases; the lower limit of the mass index is ∼0.8, and the upper limit of the ice mantle thickness is ∼10⁻³ cm (∼200 times the interstellar value); the lower limit of the latent heat of organics in organic mantles of submicron particles increases toward small heliocentric distances; the recondensation of organics combined with the growth of dust bodies leads to a fractionation of organics within iceless dust aggregates; last accreted sub-units of an aggregate are always glued by organics with the lowest value of the latent heat, which somewhat exceeds 60 kJ/mol. Based on in situ observations at Halley, the parameters characterizing iceless dust aggregates in that comet are calculated. Finally, feasible observational tests of the conclusions drawn are discussed.     

Influence of wall impacts on the Ulysses dust detector on understanding the interstellar dust flux

The Ulysses spacecraft orbits the Sun on a highly inclined orbit, and the impact ionization dust detector on board continuously measures interstellar dust grains with masses up to , penetrating deep into the Solar System. The flow direction is close to the mean apex of the Sun's motion through the local interstellar cloud (LIC), and the grains act as tracers of the physical conditions in the LIC. Previous analysis gave a velocity dispersion of up to 40^° for the interstellar grains. We partially re-analyzed the Ulysses interstellar dust data set, taking into account the detector's inner side walls. As the side walls have a sensitivity for dust impact detection almost identical to that of the instrument's target area, wall impactors must be taken into account for estimating the intrinsic velocity dispersion of the interstellar impactors and the interstellar dust flux value. Neglect of the sensor side walls overestimates the interstellar dust stream velocity dispersion by about 30% and the interstellar dust flux by about 20%.     

Mid-infrared (5–100 μm) reflectance spectra and optical constants of ten phyllosilicate minerals

We have derived the real and imaginary indices of refraction for 10 phyllosilicate minerals—montmorillonite, beidellite, nontronite, hectorite, saponite, illite, illite–smectite (60/40 interlayered) kaolinite, halloysite, and serpentine—from 100–2000 cm⁻¹ (5–100 μm) at 2 cm⁻¹ spectral sampling using classical Lorentz–Lorenz dispersion theory. We present the real and imaginary indices and the oscillator parameters with which they were modeled. Use of these optical constants will aid in the modeling of thermal infrared spectra of planets, asteroids, interplanetary and interstellar dust, and protoplanetary disks around nearby stars.     

Cosmic Ray-Induced Polycondensate Hydrocarbons in Giant Molecular Clouds

Astrophysical and cosmochemical data show that many kinds of hydrocarbons are widespread in space, including giant molecular clouds, diffuse interstellar medium, comets, interplanetary dust particles, and carbonaceous meteorites. Here an effort is made to show the close relation between high-molecular weight hydrocarbons observed in space and existing on Earth. Results of astrochemical modelling of dust grains in dense collapsing cores of giant molecular clouds are also presented. They show that about 10% of the total abundance of dust grains may be the result of aliphatic hydrocarbons. This dust serves as initial material for comets, formed in protosolar nebula. The problem of survival of cometary organics during impact onto the Earth is discussed, and it is shown that the so-called soft-landing comet hypothesis may explain the accumulation of complex hydrocarbons on the Earth's surface. We conclude that a significant fraction of terrestrial prebiotic petroleum was delivered by extraterrestrial matter.     

On the formation of cometary nuclei in dense globules

Evolution of cometary orbits by planetary perturbations, weakly hyperbolic original orbits of comets calculated by Marsdenet al. (1978) are taken to indicate the interstellar origin of comets, and the possible formation of cometary nuclei in interstellar globules is discussed. The process is sedimentation of dust grains. It is shown that if a globule is at 40 K, its lifetime is sufficiently long to allow the sedimentation.     

Diatoms on earth,comets, europa and in interstellar space

There exists a close correspondence between the measured infrared properties of diatoms and the infrared spectrum of interstellar dust as observed in the Trapezium nebula and toward the galactic center source GC-IRS 7. Diatoms and bacteria also exhibit an absorbance peak near 2200 », which is found to agree with the observed ultraviolet absorbance properties of interstellar grains. We review the observational data and consider the known properties of diatoms and bacteria. It is suggested that these characteristics are consistent with the concept of a cosmic microbiological system in which these or similar microorganisms might exist on comets, Europa and in interstellar space.     

On the Relationship of the 27-day Variations of the Solar Wind Velocity and Galactic Cosmic Ray Intensity in Minimum Epoch of Solar Activity

We study the relationship of the 27-day variations of the galactic cosmic ray intensity with similar variations of the solar wind velocity and the interplanetary magnetic field based on observational data for the Bartels rotation period # 2379 of 23 November 2007 – 19 December 2007. We develop a three-dimensional (3-D) model of the 27-day variation of galactic cosmic ray intensity based on the heliolongitudinally dependent solar wind velocity. A consistent, divergence-free interplanetary magnetic field is derived by solving Maxwell’s equations with a heliolongitudinally dependent 27-day variation of the solar wind velocity reproducing in situ observations. We consider two types of 3-D models of the 27-day variation of galactic cosmic ray intensity, i) with a plane heliospheric neutral sheet, and ii) with the sector structure of the interplanetary magnetic field. The theoretical calculations show that the sector structure does not significantly influence the 27-day variation of galactic cosmic ray intensity, as had been shown before, based on observational data. Furthermore, good agreement is found between the time profiles of the theoretically expected and experimentally obtained first harmonic waves of the 27-day variation of the galactic cosmic ray intensity (with a correlation coefficient of 0.98±0.02). The expected 27-day variation of the galactic cosmic ray intensity is inversely correlated with the modulation parameter ζ (with a correlation coefficient of −0.91±0.05), which is proportional to the product of the solar wind velocity V and the strength of the interplanetary magnetic field B (ζ∼VB). The high anticorrelation between these quantities indicates that the predicted 27-day variation of the galactic cosmic ray intensity mainly is caused by this basic modulation effect.