Electrostatic dust transport on the surfaces of airless bodies

Abstract:

The surfaces of airless bodies are charged due to the exposure to solar wind plasma and UV radiation. Dust particles on the regolith of these surfaces can become charged, and may move and even get lofted due to electrostatic force. Electrostatic dust transport has been a long-standing problem that may be related to many observed phenomena on the surfaces of airless planetary bodies, including the lunar horizon glow, the dust ponds on asteroid Eros, the spokes in Saturn’s rings, and more recently, the collection of dust particles ejected off Comet 67P, observed by Rosetta.

In order to resolve these puzzles, a handful of laboratory experiments have been performed in the past and demonstrated that dust indeed moves and lifts from surfaces exposed to plasma. However, the exact mechanisms for the mobilization of dust particles still remain a mystery. Current charging models, including the so-called “shared charge model” and the charge fluctuation theory, will be discussed. It is found that neither of these models can explain the results from either laboratory experiments or in-situ observations.

Recently, single dust trajectories were captured with our new dust experiments, enabling novel micro-scale investigations. The particles’ initial launch speeds and size distributions are analyzed, and a new so-called “patched charge model” is proposed to explain our findings. We identify the role of plasma micro-cavities that are formed in-between neighboring dust particles. The emitted secondary or photo- electrons are proposed to be absorbed inside the micro-cavities, resulting in significant charge accumulation on the exposed patches of the surfaces of neighboring particles. The resulting enhanced Coulomb force (repulsion) between particles is likely the dominant force to mobilize and lift them off the surface. The role of other properties, including surface morphology, cohesion and photoelectron charging, will also be discussed.