Interplanetary Dust Particle (IDP) Signatures in Parker Solar Probe Data:

WHAT DOES IT MEAN!?

IDP Impact Signature

★ Asteroid and Comet remnants

★ High Velocity ( >20km/s )

★ Keplerian Orbit around Sun

★ Charged Particles

What is Interplanetary Dust (IDP)?

Radius Mass

IPD (identified in our data)

1 micron~1 * 10^(-

14)kg

Grain of Sand

60 micron~6 * 10^(-7)kg

Meteor Showers!

PerseidsCurrently activeActive from July 17th to August 26th, 2019 LOOK North after Midnight

Orionids Next period of activity: October 2nd, 2019 to November 7th, 2019

Leonids Next period of activity: November 6th, 2019 to November 30th, 2019

Thanks to www.amsmeteors.org:

We Can also Observe IPD through Spacecraft Data! ★Voyager

★Cassini★STEREO★MAVEN★WIND★MMS★ParkerSolarProbe

Why Parker Solar Probe is SO SPECIAL ?● Before PSP launched in August 2018 Dust within 0.3 AU of

the Sun had Never been Measured In-Situ!● Models for Dust Distribution at this Distance Vary by Orders

of Magnitude

1 AU = 215 Solar Radii

PSP will get as close as 9 Solar Radii

Data is collected near perihelion and retrieved when Earth’s position is right for a data dump

Closer to the SUN than EVER BEFORE!

Parker Solar Probe

FIELDS➔ 1 of 4 Instruments on Solar Probe➔ Designed to survey magnetic and electric fields➔ Not made to detect IDP!➔ Antennas measure change in electric

potential

Charged IDP particles HIT

the spacecraft, forming a

plasma cloudat contact point

IDP Impact Signature on 3 of the 4 channels

Impact Sequence

V4

V3

V2

V1

Electric Field Antennas

Electric Field Antennas

V5

• 10 Days of Data: 3/31/19 - 4/9/19

• 60 second Scan Windows

• Scan Windows are Shifted by Half

3/31 4/1 4/2 4/3 4/4 4/5 4/6 4/7 4/94/8

WINDOW

WINDOW 2

WINDOW 1 WINDOW 3

WINDOW 4

WINDOW 5

Finding Dust Spikes in the Data

See How the Algorithm Works on Waveform Data:

No Dust Impacts Only 1 spike identified with the algorithm Dust Impacts on ALL 4 Antennas

The Model

4/9/2019

3/31/2019

Data Dates: 03/31/2019:04/09/2019

End Goal:

Use the DATA

To Determine the Direction of the Dust

So We Can Test The Model

● Antenna closest to the impact site sees the highest amplitude at Impact Time

● Antenna closest to the impact site sees the highest amplitude at Impact Time

● Higher velocity impacts produce higher spikes

● Antenna closest to the impact site sees the highest amplitude at Impact Time

● Higher velocity impacts produce higher spikes● Comparing amplitudes on each antenna providescluesaboutthedirectionofdust:

● Antenna closest to the impact site sees the highest amplitude at Impact Time

● Higher velocity impacts produce higher spikes● Comparing amplitudes on each antenna providescluesaboutthedirectionofdust:○ when the spacecraft moves toward dust, impacts are bigger and more

frequent, when the spacecraft moves in the same direction as the dust, impacts are smaller and less frequent.

Bigger Spike Amplitude

Smaller Spike Amplitude

The Model: What we expect to see in the data

The Model Predicts the Highest Amplitudes on: • Ram-Side Antennas (V1_V4) near

Perihelion • Tail-Side Antenna (V5) near Last Day.• Includes Jupiter Family Comets and

Asteroids and Other Dust on near-circular Orbits

4/9/2019

3/31/2019

Data Dates: 03/31/2019:04/09/2019

Highest Amplitudes1) On Ram-Side Antennas (V1_V4) near

Perihelion (0.17)2) On Tail-Side Antenna (V5) near Last Day

(0.3)

The Data Mostly Supports the Model

**Size of Impact “Poof” Indicates Velocity of Impact

Conclusion:

• The Model for Jupiter family Comet and Asteroid Dust within

0.3 AU of the Sun is Supported by the Data in MOST Positions

Conclusion:

• The Model for Jupiter family Comet and Asteroid Dust within

0.3 AU of the Sun is Supported by the Data in MOST Positions

• The High Amplitudes on V5 at 0.2 pre-Perihelion might be due

to Dust Hitting the Sun Shield and Shifting the Electric

Potential of the Spacecraft

Conclusion:

• The Model for Jupiter family Comet and Asteroid Dust within

0.3 AU of the Sun is Supported by the Data in MOST Positions

• The High Amplitudes on V5 at 0.2 Pre-Perihelion might be due

to Dust Hitting the Sun Shield and Shifting the Electric

Potential of the Spacecraft

• Or…. There may be an unexplained Dust flux Hitting the

Spacecraft from the Tail at that location

ThanksTo:DavidMalaspina,DavidMalaspina,UniversityofColorado,Boulder

JameySzalay,PrincetonUniversityPetrPokorny,CatholicUniversity

StuartBale,BerkeleyJohnBonnell,Berkeley

ThierryDudok deWit,CNRS,UniversityofNewOrleansKeithGoetz,UniversityofMinnesota

PeterHarvey,BerkeleyRobertMacDowall,NASAMarcPulupa,Berkeley

ImageCredits:NASA:parkersolarprobe.jhuapl.edu