Dust inventory through the Solar System: From Earth to Pluto

Abstract:

The Student Dust Counter (SDC) is an impact dust detector onboard the New Horizons spacecraft, observing the dust density distribution since April 2006 across the Solar System. SDC measures the mass of dust grains in the range of 10^-12 < m < 10^-9 g, covering an approximate size range of 0.5-10 um in particle radius. The measurements can be compared to model predictions following the orbital evolution of dust grains originating from the Edgeworth-Kuiper Belt and migrating inward due to Poynting-Robertson drag. SDC's results, as well as data taken by the Pioneer 10 dust detector, are compared to model predictions to estimate the mass production rate and the ejecta size distribution power law exponent. On July 14, 2015, the New Horizons spacecraft passed through the Pluto system and is now continuing to take measurements in the solar system’s third zone, the Kuiper Belt. The measurements SDC has taken throughout the solar system, including in the Pluto-Charon system, will be discussed in this presentation, as well as predictions for the dust distribution it will measure as it explores the Kuiper Belt.