Universal space is full of innumerable, beautiful and interesting substances and phenomena. Some very large and some very small. However, the sizes of the stars do not limit the Universe to continue to be more and more interesting and the cosmic dust It is not far behind in such astronomical relevance. For this reason, everything that refers to this object that is located in the amplitude of space is explained in detail here.
You may also be interested in reading: CLUSTERS: STELLAR GROUPS AND GALAXIES IN SPACE
Cosmic dust is about that dust that is located in the width and depth of space. It is mainly composed of particles that are smaller than 100µm. It also has a limit of about 100 micrometers that occurs as a consequence of what the proposed definitions of meteoroid are. This last body the meteoroid, it is that object that exceeds the size mentioned above and that also reaches up to 50m.
However, these limits mentioned above are not really strict for your classification. The cosmic dust for its part, fills the entire cosmos. This includes our Solar system, although its density is very slight (density understood here as the number of particles per cubic meter), being more dense if it is cometary or circumplanetary disk dust and less dense if it is interstellar or intergalactic dust.
Of course, to understand the latter, it is essential to describe each of its classifications. The reason for this is that the cosmic dust in space is not located in a single way, but there are different ways in what can be observed so far. It is not known with certainty, what exists beyond the observable universe (the part of the Universe that can be seen from Earth), for this reason we will mention what has been studied in what is known so far.
Types of Cosmic Dust
At the spatial level, cosmic dust turns out to be a substance that is not located in a specific place, but is scattered throughout the entire planet. universe. In addition to this, it consists of small aggregate amounts of material and it has a composition that varies substantially depending on knowing under what conditions the cosmic dust was formed. This space object is made up of solid particles of ice and stones, even part of the dust is made up of chains of silicon.
In addition, cosmic dust is distributed in clouds, this is what prevents us from seeing the stars that are behind. On the other hand, dust plays a crucial role in the formation of stars and even planets. While the Solar System still contains a large amount of cosmic dust that "was left over" at the time of planet formation, in addition to that which is continuously given off by comets when they approach the sun.
Cosmic dust turns out to be one of the factors responsible for the long tail or hair that comets show. Although in reality, it has not always been interesting to investigate this space object for the same obstructive reason mentioned above.
Once cosmic dust was discovered, its beginnings were not very pleasant for scholars. The reason for this is that cosmic dust, also called astronomical dust, was a nuisance that obstructed the detailed study of the stars, planets and other celestial bodies. However, some properties are now known that turn out to be quite interesting and that come precisely from cosmic dust, thanks to which its function and importance for astronomy was better understood.
The investigation of it has been so fundamental that the researchers took a turn and went from looking at it as an obstruction, to being a target object of study. In which it has been determined that the Cosmic Dust can be classified both by its astronomical location, as well as by its origin. Between what has been embodied then a difference between different types of cosmic dust.
First Classification: Intergalactic Dust
This type of cosmic dust is the one that is located between galaxies, which can form part of clouds of intergalactic dust. Different investigations have been carried out on this type of cosmic dust for more than twenty years. Among these studies, various objects have been used that have been great collaborators in obtaining the most recent data on this type of cosmic dust.
In 1997, it was the Iso infrared space telescope, belonging to the European Space Agency (ESA), which first detected dust in intergalactic space. During this event, German and Finnish astronomers managed to discover dust concentrations in the Coma Berenices constellation, where more than 500 galaxies form the Coma cluster.
Before this discovery, it was considered that in the intergalactic space there would be only faint traces of gas; Except for the concentrations of stars, gas and dust that form galaxies. Today this type of cosmic dust is the most annoying when studying the shapes, colors and other components of the different galaxies. However, this annoyance is compensated by the study of the components of the powder.
It is interesting to study intergalactic dust, since it results from space substances. We know well that our Universe is full of variable chemical compounds and creators of stars or objects that abound. However, it is not possible to know everything and it is because as human beings, there is no possibility of knowing all of universal space, so it is essential to study everything known and achieved by equipment launched from Earth.
Second classification: Interstellar dust
In this case, it is a cosmic dust that differs from the others also because of its location. The interstellar dust, is the one that is specifically located between the stars, such as the dust of nebulae or that of open clusters such as the Pleiades. Interstellar dust is the "raw material" that presumably collaborates with the formation of planets and also with its indirect detection with telescopes and radio telescopes.
Maybe you can read: 3 NOVELTIES OF THE NEBULOSES AND THEIR CLASSIFICATION IN THE COSMOS
The interstellar dust is extremely fundamental to be able to understand what they are made of and how these celestial objects are born, live and die, as indicated through studies carried out by astronomers. The researchers also indicate that precisely these are the low density particles that occupy the entire cosmos and the Solar System. On the other hand, the universe is made up of 70% hydrogen and 28% helium; the remaining percentage consists of heavy elements such as carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, iron, and silicon.
The remainder is two percent in which half is claimed to be interstellar dust, which is made up of one-micron solid grains. The micron is the unit that is equal to one thousandth of a millimeter. This implies that the interstellar dust is much smaller than the dust on Earth, it could be said that it looks like smoke. However, for astronomy this has its advantage and that is that it absorbs light efficiently. This turns out to be a phenomenon that helps capture the planetary components with telescope.
When these particles manage to group together, it is when they obviously increase in volume and form discs around the particles. young stars. In this way, grains are produced that orbit and collide with each other, as confirmed by astronomers. In fact, sometimes larger clusters are formed that grow progressively to form "planetesimals" and asteroids of the order of a kilometer that collide to form planets, with structures that can range from one to 10,000 kilometers.
detailed investigation
With the help of NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, studies were carried out on a celestial object called Herbig Haro 30 (HH30). It is a short-lived nebula that is associated with the formation of stars and is located in the Constellation of the Bull, 500 light years from Earth. In accordance with this research, comparisons were made with data from observational astronomy along with computer models with which it reconstructs planetary formation.
As a result, it was indicated that a place like Earth has not yet been found. In other words, the explorations indicate that there is no confirmed place that is habitable because it is in a range of temperatures that go from zero to 100 degrees Celsius. On the other hand, among the more than 200 exoplanets discovered, astronomers are targeting some that are in this range and in which they could possibly harbor life if they have liquid water.
In addition to this, the investigations have detailed an estimate regarding the luminosity that exists in the world space. In this sense, it can be specifically stated that nebulae or clusters of interstellar cosmic dust are responsible for reflecting at least 30% of the total luminosity of the galaxy. A great discovery, since the wide range of galaxies is always of interest to anyone and, of course, to scientists.
This important finding details in great quantity that it is the interstellar dust that produces the brightness in the galaxies. Of course, he is not given the full prominence of such a phenomenon, but 30% of the credits, which means that he has almost half of the light influence thereof.
Third classification: Interplanetary dust
What can be said about this type of cosmic dust, called interplanetary dust, is that it is located orbiting the Sun between the planets. In fact, its origin is very similar to that of the meteoroids, ejected by collisions between bodies of the Solar System or remains of its formation. It is also made up of cometary dust.
On the other hand, interplanetary dust is also composed of particles up to 100mm. It is from that size that Meteoroids and larger objects can be obtained, therefore they are particles that are very small. Interplanetary dust is a variant of cosmic dust, it is called interplanetary since it is between the Sun and the planets.
Interplanetary dust comes from the same kind of collisions by which the Solar System's satellites and meteorites were formed. It is a powder that has been ejected by collisions of bodies or ejected by comets, it is also part of the remnants of the formation of the Solar System. In addition to this, interplanetary dust can somehow be seen from Earth, if the night is very dark.
This implies that the same with great stability can be seen specifically what is called zodiacal light. It bears this name since a dim light can be observed in the plane of the image. ecliptic at dawn or dusk. It is the reflection of sunlight from part of the interplanetary dust in the vicinity of the Sun. Our planet Earth, in its movement around the Sun, captures thousands of tons of this dust daily (approximately 2900 per day).
Capture of interplanetary dust
As has been well mentioned, while the Earth revolves around the Sun, it collects a certain amount of interplanetary dust. It is said that 2900 tons of this dust are captured per day. And based on what is calculated at that catch rate, if you don't destroy this dust, on Earth there would be a large layer of dark-colored dust approximately one meter high, which is interplanetary dust.
Said dust has a dynamic in the solar system and different forces act on it, as is the case of the radiation pressure. It is a force that pushes interplanetary dust, slowing it down and at the same time trying to move it towards the outer part of the solar system, thus becoming a poynting vector.
This means that the interplanetary dust itself is affected by the intensity of the electromagnetic wave coming from the Sun. This pressure is very weak, however it is very noticeable in cometary tails as they approach the Sun.
Precisely because of what has already been explained, the need arises to point out what the Poyting–Robertson effect, it is about the interaction that arises in interplanetary dust with sunlight. This is the one that generates a force that makes it slow down weaker than the one generated by the radiation pressure. However, it is essential as it dissipates energy, causing the particle to slowly fall into orbits, spiraling towards the Sun.
The most relevant thing that can be explained about this effect is that for very small particles it turns out to be very important. However, when it comes to mass bodies that are close enough to the subway, it is no longer noticeable.
Finally, it is important to highlight a relevant effect between the forces that exist in the interplanetary dust. It is about the presence of what is the interplanetary magnetic field. This is the one that originates or gives rise to a force that tends to increase the orbital inclination of the dust.
Composition of interplanetary dust
Among all the above, it is essential to highlight that when talking about the dust disposal in the solar system, it turns out to be of a higher concentration between the planet Mars and the Sun, being of a squashed lenticular shape, with its principal plane of symmetry coinciding with the invariant plane of the solar system, also called the maximum plane of Aries or Laplace .
You Might Also: DETAILS ABOUT METEOROIDS AND THEIR MOST CURRENT NEWS
On the other hand, it is not yet known with certainty how interplanetary dust is composed. To find out, various methods have been used, such as airplanes and even high-altitude sounding balloons to capture interplanetary dust, thus searching the seabed for material similar to meteorites. This is what is called cosmic spherules. These spherules have a dark color and are made up of a mixture of silicates and carbon compounds.
On the other hand, the typical composition of interplanetary dust collected on Earth is very similar to carbonaceous contrites. It is a powder that adheres to the Earth and reaches the ground by condensation in drops of water, snowflakes or hail. This is because the water vapor uses the dust as condensation nuclei. The area where a lot of interplanetary dust accumulates on our planet is in the polar ice caps, this being an authentic natural reserve of the same.
Fourth Classification: Circumstellar Disk Dust
This type of cosmic dust is proper of the young stars in which exoplanets have not yet formed. In this sense, it is essential to describe what the circumstellar disk is and it turns out to be a material structure in the shape of a ring or torus that is located around a star. The circumstellar disk is made up mainly of gas, dust, and rocky or icy objects called planetesimals.
On the other hand, these circumstellar disks they can originate while the formation phase of a star occurs. It is then, when as a result of the same cloud of gas and dust from which it is formed (also called protoplanetary disks), and although most of the material is later accreted by the star, thrown by the stellar wind, or captured in the form of planets, a residual amount may survive in the form of the asteroid belt or Kuiper belt.
In addition to this, a circumstellar disk can be created when the collision of two planets or also called planetesimals, which is the debris disk. It can even originate during the process of capturing the gas that comes from the upper atmosphere of a companion star in the case of closed binary stars, which is the accretion disk.
The first circumstellar disk ever detected around a star that is similar to the Sun was observed in 2004 when a team of astrophysicists discovered a circumstellar disk of debris around the Sun. star HD 107146.
Fifth Classification: Circumplanetary Disk Dust
An example of this type of cosmic dust is that of the planetary rings of Saturn or Uranus. To understand more about this, it is necessary to explain what it is a planetary ring which is a ring of dust and also includes, of course, other particles that are very small and that revolve around a planet. The most spectacular and well-known since the telescopic age are the rings of Saturn. Saturn was long thought to be the only planet with rings, and its singularity was a problem.
On the other hand, from the year 1977 the rings of Uranus were discovered. However, already in this time so advanced in technology, approaches to other planets have been allowed and for this reason, today it is known that the four giant planets of the Solar System and a centaur have their own ring systems. That is, the planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and the Centaur Chariclo.
Using these technological approaches, researchers have been able to determine that Jupiter has a ring system and Uranus has at least nine discrete rings. Voyager's approach to Neptune in 1989 was what made it possible to verify that the rings are extended between the gas giant planets of the outer Solar System. The Neptune's rings they were very rare, since they seemed to be composed of incomplete arcs, however the Voyager images were the ones that showed complete rings although with pieces of different luminosity that meant that only the brightest arcs could be observed from Earth.
It is estimated that the gravitational influence of the shepherd moon Galatea and possibly some other undiscovered grazing moons, are responsible for these lumps in the rings. On the other hand, the composition and size of the ring particles varies; it may be silicate or even icy dust located exclusively on four of the giant planets, and water ice in the case of Saturn. On the other hand, the sizes vary from the size of micrometers to stones the size of tens of meters.
Characteristics of the planets
A peculiarity of the planets in which the circumplanetary disk dust is found, is that sometimes their rings have grazing moons. They are about some moons that are very small and that rotate in the outer edges of rings or even within the gaps in the rings, being responsible for the divisions. The size of a grazing moon ranges from a kilometer to tens of kilometres.
The amazing satellites mentioned above are located within the planet's ring system and are also within the Roche limit of Jupiter. A moon within the Roche limit can only stay together if the cohesion on it overcomes the different force of gravity on two different parts of the moon, so it has to be compact and small. The gravity of the shepherd satellites has the function of keeping the outer edge of the ring very well defined.
I do not know yet, how the planetary rings. In other words, their origin is unknown, however it is estimated that they are unstable and disappear in a few hundred million years. As a consequence of this, the current ring systems must have a modern origin that is possibly formed from the debris of another natural satellite that previously suffered a large impact or from primeval matter.
Apparently, it is also thought that the possible impact site that produced the planetary ring was closer to the planet than the Roche limit. For this reason, they could not be added to form a satellite or it is even estimated that it could have produced a break due to the planet gravity when it passed inside the Roche limit.
Sixth classification: Cometary dust
This type of cosmic dust is released from the comet by the solar wind. It is what can produce meteors if it enters the Earth's atmosphere and even meteor showers, when it occurs in large numbers. specifically the cometary dust, it is the cosmic dust coming from a comet. Originating, then, by the solar wind that releases dust particles from the comet into space when the comet is in the vicinity of the Sun.
A relevant fact about cometary dust is that this material can provide interesting information about the origin and formation of the comet. On the other hand, if this dust has been released by the comet in an area close to the Earth's orbit, it can enter the Earth's atmosphere, giving rise to the phenomenon of meteors. Even if the dust concentrations are very high, it can lead to a rain of stars.
This aforementioned phenomenon will happen every time the Earth passes through the area where the cometary dust was released by the comet until the Earth ends up attracting all the cometary dust that was left behind by the comet as it passed. An example of this is the cometary dust that was from the debris released by the Comet 1P/Halley, which produced two meteor showers, that of the Orionids, in October, and that of the Eta Aquarids, in May.
Perhaps the most visually impressive cometary dust from planet Earth. It is even the one that can attract the most attention, of the 6 types of cosmic dust existing in the cosmic space. The reason is that there is more possibility that this classification has contact with the Earth. However, each type of Cosmic Dust is of great importance for the knowledge and study of universal objects and even of the Universe itself.