Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Dec 2009
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2009agufm.p23c1263d&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2009, abstract #P23C-1263
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
[6250] Planetary Sciences: Solar System Objects / Moon
Scientific paper
Micrometeoroid bombardment (and perhaps electrostatic charging) of the lunar surface generates slow moving (1 - 100 m/s) particles on ballistic trajectories. The population of this surface-bound dust (number density, size and velocity distribution, temporal variability) is poorly characterized and yet important for the design and operation of future instruments deployed on the lunar surface and for the safety of astronauts. The size of these particles is expected to be in the micron range and the particles are likely to carry charge due to photoelectron emission, solar wind particle collection and triboelectrification. Due to their low velocity, these particles are difficult to detect utilizing momentum transfer or impact ionization methods. The Electrostatic Lunar Dust Analyzer (ELDA) measures the charge, mass and velocity of individual dust particles. ELDA consists an electrostatic deflection region placed in between two Dust Trajectory Sensors (DTS). The DTS is a wire array system with each electrode connected to a separate sensitive electrometer. A charged dust particle passing through the array induces charge on the wires. The recorded waveforms allow reconstruction of the velocity vector with high precision. The electrostatic deflection region is used to determine the mass of the dust. After the first DTS, the trajectory of a particle is deflected in a high electric field region (100 kV/m) and then the trajectory is measured again. Here we report the latest development of sensitive electronics and the prototype. Data analysis is aided by extensive modeling of the instrument using the Coulomb and SIMION software.
Auer Stefan
Drake K.
Duncan N. A.
Gruen Eberhard
Horanyi Mihaly
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