Micron‐sized dust particles detected in the outer solar system by the Voyager 1 and 2 plasma wave instruments

Gurnett, D. A.; Ansher, J. A.; Kŭrth, W. S.; Granroth, L. J.

doi:10.1029/97gl03228

Cited by 100 publications

(81 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…In the latter case, as mentioned above, it is dust that can be observed. In the former case, we can observe the planetesimals, but there is no certain detection of their dust so far (Gurnett et al 1997;Landgraf et al 2002). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Edgeworth-Kuiper debris disk

Vitense¹,

Krivov²,

Löhne³

2010

A&A

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The Edgeworth-Kuiper belt (EKB) and its presumed dusty debris is a natural reference for extrsolar debris disks. We re-analyze the current database of known transneptunian objects (TNOs) and employ a new algorithm to eliminate the inclination and the distance selection effects in the known TNO populations to derive expected parameters of the "true" EKB. Its estimated mass is M EKB = 0.12 M ⊕ , which is by a factor of ∼15 larger than the mass of the EKB objects detected so far. About a half of the total EKB mass is in classical and resonant objects and another half is in scattered ones. Treating the debiased populations of EKB objects as dust parent bodies, we then "generate" their dust disk with our collisional code. Apart from accurate handling of destructive and cratering collisions and direct radiation pressure, we include the Poynting-Robertson (P-R) drag. The latter is known to be unimportant for debris disks around other stars detected so far, but cannot be ignored for the EKB dust disk because of its much lower optical depth. We find the radial profile of the normal optical depth to peak at the inner edge of the classical belt, ≈40 AU. Outside the classical EKB, it approximately follows τ ∝ r −2 which is roughly intermediate between the slope predicted analytically for collision-dominated (r −1.5 ) and transport-dominated (r −2.5 ) disks. The size distribution of dust is less affected by the P-R effect. The cross section-dominating grain size still lies just above the blowout size (∼1 . . . 2 µm), as it would if the P-R effect was ignored. However, if the EKB were by one order of magnitude less massive, its dust disk would have distinctly different properties. The optical depth profile would fall off as τ ∝ r −3 , and the cross section-dominating grain size would shift from ∼1 . . . 2 µm to ∼100 µm. These properties are seen if dust is assumed to be generated only by known TNOs without applying the debiasing algorithm. An upper limit of the in-plane optical depth of the EKB dust set by our model is τ = 2 × 10 −5 outside 30 AU. If the solar system were observed from outside, the thermal emission flux from the EKB dust would be about two orders of magnitude lower than for solar-type stars with the brightest known infrared excesses observed from the same distance. Herschel and other new-generation facilities should reveal extrasolar debris disks nearly as tenuous as the EKB disk. We estimate that the Herschel/PACS instrument should be able to detect disks at a ∼1 . . . 2M EKB level.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Edgeworth-Kuiper debris disk

Vitense¹,

Krivov²,

Löhne³

2010

A&A

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“…This is actually anticipated by the fact that Voyager did not detect dust particles beyond the outer edge of EKB (Gurnett et al, 1997). New in-situ data for the dust flux in the outer solar system will be available from the New Horizons Mission.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…While they are expected to spread out across the solar system, neither solar radiation scattered by EKB dust particles nor thermal radiation emitted from them has been detected to date. Contrary to those remote observations, instruments on board spacecraft have identified impacts of dust particles on the spacecraft beyond the Jupiter's orbit (Humes, 1980;Gurnett et al, 1997). The major source of these dust particles detected in the outer solar system is most likely EKBOs, because no other sources are available there.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Pioneer 10/11 measured a flux of 10 −10 -10 −9 cm −2 s −1 at 1-20 AU through pressurized cells whose pressure loss indicate dust impacts (Humes, 1980). Voyager 1/2 detected dust particles with a much higher flux of 10 −8 -10 −7 cm −2 s −1 at 10-50 AU through abrupt changes of voltage detected by antenna elements (Gurnett et al, 1997). We expect the difference of the fluxes measured by these spacecraft may be explained by the size distribution of dust particles drifting from the EKB because the spacecraft have different detection size threshold.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Ice sublimation of dust particles and their detection in the outer solar system

et al. 2010

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The flux of interplanetary dust beyond the Jupiter's orbit, which supposedly originates from Edgeworth-Kuiper belt, has been measured in situ by instruments on board Voyager and Pioneer spacecraft. The measured flux shows a nearly flat radial profile at 10-50 AU for Voyager and at 5-15 AU for Pioneer. Because the orbital evolution of dust particles controlled by radiation forces results in the flux that is inversely proportional to distance from the sun, dust particles detected by spacecraft should have suffered from other dynamical effects. We calculate model fluxes on the spacecraft taking into account the effect of ice sublimation as well as radiation forces on the orbital evolution of dust particles. Our results show that the radial profile of the model flux becomes relatively flat near the outer edge of the sublimation zone, where ice substantially sublimes. The expected location of the flat radial profile, which depends on the detection threshold of instruments, is 15-40 AU for Voyager and 5-20 AU for Pioneer. Because our model fluxes are comparable with the measured ones, we conclude that the flat radial profiles of the dust flux derived from in-situ dust impacts may be caused by ice sublimation.

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“…Pioneer 10 and 11 detected dust out to 18 AU and 13 AU, respectively (Humes 1980), and dynamical models indicate and that the Kuiper belt (KB) was likely the source of the dust detected beyond 10 AU (Landgraf et al 2002). Voyager detected dust in the 30-60 AU Kuiper Belt region, with an estimated number density of n ∼ 2×10 −8 m −3 (Gurnett et al 1997) that would correspond to a fractional luminosity of f = L dust /L star ∼ 4 × 10 −7 (Jewitt & Luu 2000). The dust production rate estimates in the outer Solar system are in the rage (0.2-5)×10 4 kg/s (from Voyager and Pioneer data, respectively; Jewitt & Luu 2000;Landgraf et al 2002).…”

Section: The Solar System Debris Diskmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterizing planetesimal belts through the study of debris dust

Moro‐Martín

2010

Proc. IAU

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Abstract. Main sequence stars are commonly surrounded by disks of dust. From lifetime arguments, it is inferred that the dust particles are not primordial but originate from the collision of planetesimals, similar to the asteroids, comets and KBOs in our Solar system. The presence of these debris disks around stars with a wide range of masses, luminosities, and metallicities, with and without binary companions, is evidence that planetesimal formation is a robust process that can take place under a wide range of conditions. Debris disks can help us learn about the formation, evolution and diversity of planetary systems.Keywords. interplanetary medium, Kuiper Belt, circumstellar matter, stars: evolution, planetary systems Why we care about debris disksCircumstellar disks play a fundamental role in the formation of stars and planets. The accretion of mass onto the forming star is regulated by mass and angular momentum transfer mechanisms within the disk. With time, the mass reservoir of the cloud gets depleted and the gas-rich disk begins to dissipate in a time scale of about 6 Myr. The formation of gas giant planets needs to happen before this gas-rich disk dissipates, while the formation of terrestrial planets and massive planets beyond the ice line is not limited by the presence of gas in the disk and can continue for approximately 100 Myr; a critical step in this process is the formation of planetesimals. Observations with Spitzer show that there is evidence that at least 15% of mature stars (10 Myr-10 Gyr) of a wide range of masses (0.5-3 M S un ) harbor planetesimal belts with sizes of 10s-100s AU. This evidence comes from the presence of an infrared emission in excess of that expected from the stellar photosphere, thought to arise from a circumstellar dust disk. The reason why these dust disks are evidence of the presence of planetesimals is because the lifetime of the dust grains is of the order of 0.01-1 Myr, much shorter than the age of the star (>10 Myr); therefore, the origin of these dust grains cannot be primordial, i.e. from the cloud of gas and dust where the star was born, but must be the result of on-going dust production generated by planetesimals, like the asteroids, comets and Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs) in our Solar system; this is why we refer to these dust disks as debris disks. Debris disks are therefore evidence of the formation of planetesimals around other stars. The goal of this presentation is to describe how debris disks can shed light on the formation, evolution an diversity of planetary systems, helping us place our Solar system into context. 54at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi

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Micron‐sized dust particles detected in the outer solar system by the Voyager 1 and 2 plasma wave instruments

Cited by 100 publications

References 12 publications

The Edgeworth-Kuiper debris disk

The Edgeworth-Kuiper debris disk

Ice sublimation of dust particles and their detection in the outer solar system

Characterizing planetesimal belts through the study of debris dust

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