What is interplanetary dust?

Answer 1

interplanetary dust particle (IDP), also called micrometeoroid, micrometeorite, orcosmic dust particle, a small grain, generally less than a few hundred micrometres in size and composed of silicate minerals and glassy nodules but sometimes including sulfides, metals, other minerals, and carbonaceous material, in orbit around the Sun. The existence of interplanetary dust particles was first deduced from observations ofzodiacal light, a glowing band visible in the night sky that comprises sunlight scattered by the dust. Spacecraft have detected these particles as far out in space nearly as the orbit ofUranus, which indicates that the entire solar system is immersed in a disk of dust, centred on the ecliptic plane.

Every object in the solar system can produce dust by outgassing, cratering, volcanism, or other processes. Most interplanetary dust is believed to come from the surface erosion and collisions of asteroids and from comets, which give off gas and dust when they travel near the Sun.

The orbits of interplanetary dust particles are easily altered by interaction with the light and charged particles (solar wind) that emanate from the Sun. The smallest particles, less than 0.5 micrometre (μm; 0.00002 inch) in size, are blown out of the solar system. Drag effects from sunlight and the solar wind cause larger particles to spiral toward the Sun, some on paths that intercept planets or their moons.

Considered in the context of their collisions with other objects in space, interplanetary dust particles are frequently called micrometeoroids. Because of their high speed (in the tens of kilometres per second), micrometeoroids as small as a few hundred micrometres in size pose a significant collision hazard to spacecraft and their payloads. An impact can, for example, puncture a vital component or create a transient cloud of ions that can short-circuit an electrical system. Consequently, protection against micrometeoroid impacts has become a necessary element of space hardware design. Components of the Earth-orbiting International Space Station use a "dust bumper," or Whipple shield (named for its inventor, the American astronomer Fred Whipple), to guard against damage from micrometeoroids and orbiting debris. Spacesuits intended for extravehicular activity also incorporate micrometeoroid protection in their outer layers.

Analyses of micrometeoroid pitting on Earth-orbiting satellites indicate that about 30,000 tons a year of interplanetary dust strike Earth's upper atmosphere, mostly particles between 50 μm and 1 mm (0.002-0.04 inch) in size. Particles from space larger than a few hundred micrometres-i.e., meteoroids-are heated so severely during deceleration in the atmosphere that they vaporize, producing a glowing meteor trail. Smaller particles experience less-severe heating and survive, eventually settling to Earth's surface. When found in Earth's atmosphere or on its surface, they are often referred to as micrometeorites or cosmic dust particles.

Using high-altitude research aircraft, the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration has collected cosmic dust particles directly from Earth's stratosphere, where the concentration of terrestrial dust is low. Particles larger than 50 μm are relatively uncommon there, however, which makes their collection by aircraft impractical. These larger particles have been collected in sediment that has been filtered from large volumes of melted polar ice. Spacecraft missions have been developed to retrieve dust particles directly from space. The U.S. Stardust spacecraft, launched in 1999, flew past Comet Wild 2 in early 2004, collecting particles from its coma for return to Earth. In 2003 Japan's space agency launched its Hayabusa spacecraft to return small amounts of surface material, comprising fragments and dust, from the near-Earth asteroidItokawa for laboratory analysis.

Some cosmic dust particles gathered from the stratosphere are the least-altered samples of early solar system dust that have been studied in the laboratory. They provide clues to the temperature, pressure, and chemical composition of the nebular cloud from which the solar system condensed 4.6 billion years ago. (See solar system: Origin of the solar system.) The continuous accretion of micrometeorites on early Earth may have contributed organic compounds that were important for the development of life. A few micrometeorites are thought to contain preserved interstellar grains-samples of matter from outside the solar system. (Seeinterstellar medium.) Spacecraft sample-return missions to comets and asteroids should provide scientists on Earth the opportunity to study even better-preserved material from the birth of the solar system.

Answer 2

From just the perspective of "language" here, inter means between, and stellar refers to stars. We use the term interstellar space to talk about the space between stars, which leads to the statement that interstellar space is the space between stars in galaxies. And there's so darn much of that that we'd better take a closer look to lock in the idea.

We know that there are large distances between the planets in our solar system. Heck, it takes all day and then some to get from one to the other. Light itself takes about eight minutes to arrive at the earth from the sun. But the "largeness" of the space between the planets in our solar system might be due to "small thinkng" on our part. We know that the sun's light takes about eight minutes to get to earth, but the nearest star is so far away that it takes years for the light from it to get to earth!

Proxima Centauri, the nearest star to us (other than our sun) is about 4.2 light-years away! If we ball park the numbers, that's like a quarter of a million times as far as earth is from the sun! The space between the sun and Proxima Centauri is what we're talking about when we use the term interstellar space. There are vast "open" volumes of space between stars in galaxies. We might compare interstellar space to the space between galaxies, which is intergalactic space. And now we're talking reallylarge empty volumes of space and huge distances between the galactic objects!

Answer 3

Interplanetary dust consists of tiny particles of rock, metal, and organic material that float through space between planets. These particles can come from comets, asteroids, or other sources in the solar system. Studying interplanetary dust can provide insights into the history of our solar system and how planets form.

Answer 4

Literally, between stars. We use the word "interstellar" to refer to anything that goes between stars, or to the space between the stars.

Answer 5

For the answer to this look in the link I will place below

IT IS GASES BETWEEN THE STARS.

Answer 6

between stars