Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Nov 1980
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1980jgr....85.5841h&link_type=abstract
Journal of Geophysical Research, vol. 85, Nov. 1, 1980, p. 5841-5852.
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
61
Asteroid Belts, Interplanetary Space, Meteoroids, Pioneer 10 Space Probe, Pioneer 11 Space Probe, Saturn Atmosphere, Optical Thickness, Particle Flux Density, Particle Size Distribution, Planetary Gravitation, Saturn Rings, Spaceborne Astronomy, Saturn, Pioneer 10, Pioneer 11, Experiments, Meteoroids, Data, Flux, Distance, Density, Diagrams, Mission Description, Size, Distribution, Orbits, Inclination, Eccentricity, Rings, Particles, Gravitational Effects
Scientific paper
The meteoroid penetration detectors on Pioneer 10 (channel 0) recorded 95 penetrations through the 25-micron stainless steel test material while the spacecraft was between 1 and 18 AU. The spatial density of 10 to the -9 g meteoroids is found to be essentially constant between 1 and 18 AU. The meteoroid penetration detectors on Pioneer 11 recorded 87 penetrations (55 on channel 0 and 32 on channel 1) through the 50-micron stainless steel test material while the spacecraft was between 1 and 9 AU. It is found that the meteoroids between 4 and 5 AU are not in direct circular or near-circular orbits near the ecliptic plane. The Pioneer 11 data obtained between 4 and 5 AU are best explained by the meteoroids being in randomly inclined orbits of high eccentricity. If meteoroids are in these cometlike orbits, the great increase in penetration flux previously measured near Jupiter with the Pioneer 10 experiment cannot be attributed to gravitational focusing unless the size distribution of meteoroids changes substantially between 1 and 5 AU. At Saturn encounter, the penetration flux increased by about three orders of magnitude, probably as the result of impacts from ring particles. Saturn's ring E is estimated to be 1800 km thick with an optical thickness greater than 10 to the -8.
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