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Evidence for Ice Meteoroids Beyond 2 AU
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 August 2015
Extract
Humes et al. (1974) deduced from the P-10 (Pioneer 10) meteoroid penetration data that the spatial density of 2 × 10−9 g and larger meteoroids was nearly constant (or possibly increasing) with increasing heliocentric distances between 2 and 5 AU from the sun. With an assumed mass density of 0.5 g/cm3, P-10 particles (particles whose mass is ⪞ 2 × 10−9 g) would have a particle radius in excess of about 10 μm. The observation of a constant, or increasing, spatial density leads to some interesting conclusions regarding the processes that control the population of P-10 particles between 2 and 5 AU from the sun. We shall explore some of these processes below and shall obtain the result that the P-10 meteoroid data can be best understood if many of the penetrating meteoroids are made of ice.
- Type
- IV: The Interplanetary Dust Complex 2. Physical Properties
- Information
- Symposium - International Astronomical Union , Volume 90: Solid Particles in the Solar System , 1980 , pp. 375 - 380
- Copyright
- Copyright © Reidel 1980