Post on 27-Jun-2015
description
The Dusty UniverseAnna Quider
Institute of AstronomyUniversity of Cambridge
What is dust, anyways?
Earth Dust
Earth Dust
Skin Cells Spores
Dust Mites Fibers
Ground Rock
But what is dust from outer space?
It’s tinySingle grains are less than 0.000001 cm (or 1μm) in size.
SiO2 molecules
5μm
Many different componentsMost common are silicone, oxygen, and carbon but
depends on the kind of dust in question.
Many different components
Dust life cycle
Dust life cycle
Dust life cycle
Dust life cycle
Dust life cycle
Dust life cycle
Dust life cycle
How we know about dust
Light’s interaction with dustCollect samples
Moon
Moon
Made by billions of years of collisions on lunar surface.Shown: recent Centaur and LCROSS impacts.
Moon
Possibly problematic for instruments.
RegolithRegolith Processing on the MoonProcessing on the Moon
ISR (InSect Robot)
ISR
Buried
Habitat
Mirror
Mirror
LUNOX / LLH Storage
Mars
Mars
Mars
Dust storms can affect our robots on Mars.
Mars
15 May 2005as seen by Spirit rover
Comets
Messengers from edge of solar system
Comets
Comets
Ingredients from early solar system:ice, dry ice, olivine, smectite clay, polycyclic aromatic
hydrocarbons, spinel, metallic iron, the silicate enstatite, the carbonate dolomite, and the iron sulfide marcasite
Stardust Mission
Saturn
Newly discovered dust ring around Saturn10-20 particles per cubic km of space
Young Stars
Young Stars
Dust and Light
Local galaxies
Sub-mm galaxies