Dynamical behaviour of interstellar dust particles in the solar system

Abstract Motion and possible capture of interstellar dust particles (ISDPs) in the Solar System are investigated. Gravitational force of the Sun, solar electromagnetic and corpuscular radiation and interplanetary magnetic field are considered. The effect of solar electromagnetic radiation plays an important role in the sense that nonspherical ISDPs can be captured (and survive) much more effectively than spherical particles. It turns out that particles of effective radii ≈ 0.4 μ m , moving initially near the solar equatorial plane and with impact parameter 400 R S ≲ b ≲ 500 R S (solar radii) exhibit a high probability of capture and survival in the Solar System. Only a very small number of spherical particles can be captured. Survived nonspherical ISDPs orbiting around the Sun are characterized by a quantity analogous to the Kepler's third law: 〈 r 3 〉 / T 2 , where T is orbital period and 〈 r 3 〉 is time average of cubed solar distance over the period T. The value of the quantity 〈 r 3 〉 / T 2 is 0.673 ± 0.002 [ AU 3 / year 2 ] .

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