The interplanetary dust cloud is cosmic dust (small particles floating in space) which pervades the space between planets in the Solar System and in other planetary systems. It has been studied for many years in order to understand its nature, origin, and relationship to larger bodies.
In our solar system, the interplanetary dust particles not only scatter solar light (called the "zodiacal light", which is confined to the ecliptic plane), but also produce thermal emission, which is the most prominent feature of the night-sky light in the 5-50 micrometer wavelength domain (Levasseur-Regourd, A.C. 1996). The grains characterizing the infrared emission near the earth's orbit have typical sizes of 10-100 micrometers (Backman, D., 1997). The total mass of the interplanetary dust cloud is about the mass of an asteroid of radius 15 km (with density of about 2.5 g/cm3).
Read more about Interplanetary Dust Cloud: Sources of Interplanetary Dust, Dust Particle Life Cycle, Interplanetary Dust Structures, Collecting Interplanetary Dust On Earth
Famous quotes containing the words dust and/or cloud:
“We met. But all
We did that day was mingle great and small
Footprints in summer dust as if we drew
The figure of our being less than two
But more than one as yet.”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)
“That which is given to see
At any moment is the residue, shadowed
In gold or emerging into the clear bluish haze
Of uncertainty. We come back to ourselves
Through the rubbish of cloud and tree-spattered pavement.
These days stand like vapor under the trees.”
—John Ashbery (b. 1927)