Interplanetary Dust / Astronomy and Astrophysics Library (PDF)

Dust in interplanetary space has many faces: dust originating from comets and asteroids, and interstellar dust sweeping through our solar system. These three components have a genetic relationship: interstellar dust is the solid phase of interstellar matter from which stars and planets form. Cometary dust is the most pristine material from the early solar nebula, and dust from asteroids is material modified during the formation of the solar system. Dusty planetary rings are analogues of the interplanetary dust cloud in their own right. This handbook on the physics of interplanetary dust will be of interest to a broad readership, including astronomers, space scientists and engineers. The following topics are covered in the book: - historical perspectives - optical and thermal properties of interplanetary dust - cometary dust - near-Earth dust environment - meteors - laboratory analysis of collected dust grains - in situ measurements of cosmic dust - impirical modelling of the zodiacal dust cloud - instrumentation for detection and analysis of dust - physical processes affecting dust in space - light scattering by dust grains - orbital evolution of interplanetary dust - dusty planetary rings - interstellar and circumstellar dust