New Horizons Venetia Burney Student Dust Counter Observes Higher than Expected Fluxes Approaching 60 au
The NASA New Horizons Venetia Burney Student Dust Counter (SDC) measures dust particle impacts along the spacecraft’s flight path for grains with mass ≥10 ^−12 g, mapping out their spatial density distribution. We present the latest SDC dust density, size distribution, and flux measurements through...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
IOP Publishing
2024-01-01
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| Series: | The Astrophysical Journal Letters |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ad18b0 |
| _version_ | 1797346893140852736 |
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| author | Alex Doner Mihály Horányi Fran Bagenal Pontus Brandt Will Grundy Carey Lisse Joel Parker Andrew R. Poppe Kelsi N. Singer S. Alan Stern Anne Verbiscer |
| author_facet | Alex Doner Mihály Horányi Fran Bagenal Pontus Brandt Will Grundy Carey Lisse Joel Parker Andrew R. Poppe Kelsi N. Singer S. Alan Stern Anne Verbiscer |
| author_sort | Alex Doner |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The NASA New Horizons Venetia Burney Student Dust Counter (SDC) measures dust particle impacts along the spacecraft’s flight path for grains with mass ≥10 ^−12 g, mapping out their spatial density distribution. We present the latest SDC dust density, size distribution, and flux measurements through 55 au and compare them to numerical model predictions. Kuiper Belt objects (KBOs) are thought to be the dominant source of interplanetary dust particles in the outer solar system due to both collisions between KBOs and their continual bombardment by interstellar dust particles. Continued measurements through 55 au show higher than model-predicted dust fluxes as New Horizons approaches the putative outer edge of the Kuiper Belt (KB). We discuss potential explanations for the growing deviation: radiation pressure stretches the dust distribution to further heliocentric distances than its parent body distribution; icy dust grains undergo photosputtering that rapidly increases their response to radiation pressure forces and pushes them further away from the Sun; and the distribution of KBOs may extend much further than existing observations suggest. Ongoing SDC measurements at even larger heliocentric distances will continue to constrain the contributions of dust production in the KB. Continued SDC measurements remain crucial for understanding the Kuiper Belt and the interpretation of dust disks around other stars. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T11:38:49Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ca4f51c1395747ac813a5d6030f5a177 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2041-8205 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T11:38:49Z |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Astrophysical Journal Letters |
| spelling | doaj.art-ca4f51c1395747ac813a5d6030f5a1772024-01-25T10:45:21ZengIOP PublishingThe Astrophysical Journal Letters2041-82052024-01-019612L3810.3847/2041-8213/ad18b0New Horizons Venetia Burney Student Dust Counter Observes Higher than Expected Fluxes Approaching 60 auAlex Doner0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7065-3224Mihály Horányi1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5920-9226Fran Bagenal2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3963-1614Pontus Brandt3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4644-0306Will Grundy4https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8296-6540Carey Lisse5https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9548-1526Joel Parker6https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3672-0603Andrew R. Poppe7https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8137-8176Kelsi N. Singer8https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3045-8445S. Alan Stern9https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5018-7537Anne Verbiscer10https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3323-9304Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado , Boulder, CO 80303, USA ; alex.doner@lasp.colorado.edu; Department of Physics, University of Colorado , Boulder, CO, USALaboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado , Boulder, CO 80303, USA ; alex.doner@lasp.colorado.edu; Department of Physics, University of Colorado , Boulder, CO, USALaboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado , Boulder, CO 80303, USA ; alex.doner@lasp.colorado.eduThe Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory , Laurel, MD, USALowell Observatory , Flagstaff, AZ 86001, USAThe Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory , Laurel, MD, USASouthwest Research Institute , Boulder, CO, USASpace Sciences Laboratory, University of California , Berkeley, CA, USASouthwest Research Institute , Boulder, CO, USASouthwest Research Institute , Boulder, CO, USADepartment of Astronomy, University of Virginia , Charlottesville, VA 22904, USAThe NASA New Horizons Venetia Burney Student Dust Counter (SDC) measures dust particle impacts along the spacecraft’s flight path for grains with mass ≥10 ^−12 g, mapping out their spatial density distribution. We present the latest SDC dust density, size distribution, and flux measurements through 55 au and compare them to numerical model predictions. Kuiper Belt objects (KBOs) are thought to be the dominant source of interplanetary dust particles in the outer solar system due to both collisions between KBOs and their continual bombardment by interstellar dust particles. Continued measurements through 55 au show higher than model-predicted dust fluxes as New Horizons approaches the putative outer edge of the Kuiper Belt (KB). We discuss potential explanations for the growing deviation: radiation pressure stretches the dust distribution to further heliocentric distances than its parent body distribution; icy dust grains undergo photosputtering that rapidly increases their response to radiation pressure forces and pushes them further away from the Sun; and the distribution of KBOs may extend much further than existing observations suggest. Ongoing SDC measurements at even larger heliocentric distances will continue to constrain the contributions of dust production in the KB. Continued SDC measurements remain crucial for understanding the Kuiper Belt and the interpretation of dust disks around other stars.https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ad18b0Interplanetary dustKuiper BeltSmall Solar System bodies |
| spellingShingle | Alex Doner Mihály Horányi Fran Bagenal Pontus Brandt Will Grundy Carey Lisse Joel Parker Andrew R. Poppe Kelsi N. Singer S. Alan Stern Anne Verbiscer New Horizons Venetia Burney Student Dust Counter Observes Higher than Expected Fluxes Approaching 60 au The Astrophysical Journal Letters Interplanetary dust Kuiper Belt Small Solar System bodies |
| title | New Horizons Venetia Burney Student Dust Counter Observes Higher than Expected Fluxes Approaching 60 au |
| title_full | New Horizons Venetia Burney Student Dust Counter Observes Higher than Expected Fluxes Approaching 60 au |
| title_fullStr | New Horizons Venetia Burney Student Dust Counter Observes Higher than Expected Fluxes Approaching 60 au |
| title_full_unstemmed | New Horizons Venetia Burney Student Dust Counter Observes Higher than Expected Fluxes Approaching 60 au |
| title_short | New Horizons Venetia Burney Student Dust Counter Observes Higher than Expected Fluxes Approaching 60 au |
| title_sort | new horizons venetia burney student dust counter observes higher than expected fluxes approaching 60 au |
| topic | Interplanetary dust Kuiper Belt Small Solar System bodies |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ad18b0 |
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