Dr. Lorin Swint Matthews
Professor and Chair, Department of Physics
Associate Director, Center for Astrophysics,
Space Physics, and Engineering Research
Charged Dust in
Astrophysical Environments
Dust is everywhere. 99.99% of the matter in the universe is in
the plasma state – it’s everywhere, too. What happens when dust and plasma get
together? The dust becomes charged – and
it can go everywhere. Charged dust is
the primary component of many beautiful astrophysical phenomena such as comet
tails, planetary rings, protoplanetary disks, and noctilucent clouds. However,
it is a problem for missions to airless bodies in our solar system: the Apollo
astronauts found that lunar dust can alter the thermal properties of equipment,
obscure visors and instrument readouts, degrade seals, and abrade
materials. In addition, it poses a
health hazard for astronauts if it is inhaled.
Understanding the charging and dynamics of dust is vital to
understanding our universe as well as exploring our solar system. Numerical modeling of the coupled charging
and transport processes allows exploration of environments which can’t be
easily reached. These models must be
validated by comparing with experimental measurements. This talk will provide a brief overview of
current capabilities of numerical models and their validation against both ground
and space-based experiments.
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