The Fate of Sub-Micron Circumplanetary Dust Grains I: Aligned Dipolar Magnetic Fields

Details The Fate of Sub-Micron Circumplanetary Dust Grains I: Aligned Dipolar Magnetic Fields The Fate of Sub-Micron Circumplanetary Dust Grains I: Aligned Dipolar Magnetic Fields

2012-01-17

arxiv.org/abs/1201.3578v1

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics

21 pages, 15 figures, accepted for publication in Icarus

Scientific paper

10.1016/j.icarus.2011.09.033

We study the stability of charged dust grains orbiting a planet and subject to gravity and the electromagnetic force. Our numerical models cover a broad range of launch distances from the planetary surface to beyond synchronous orbit, and the full range of charge-to-mass ratios from ions to rocks. Treating the spinning planetary magnetic field as an aligned dipole, we map regions of radial and vertical instability where dust grains are driven to escape or crash into the planet. We derive the boundaries between stable and unstable trajectories analytically, and apply our models to Jupiter, Saturn and the Earth, whose magnetic fields are reasonably well represented by aligned dipoles.

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