Publication Date:
2014-04-14
Description:
The charge released by impact ionization of fast dust grains impinging on spacecraft is at the basis of a well-known technique for dust detection by wave instruments. Since most of the impact charges are recollected by the spacecraft, monopole antennas generally detect a much greater signal than dipoles. This is illustrated by comparing dust signals in monopole and dipole mode on different spacecraft and environments. It explains the weak sensitivity of Wind /WAVES dipole antennas for dust detection, so that it is not surprising that this instrument did not detect the interplanetary nanodust discovered by STEREO/WAVES. We propose an interpretation of the Wind dust data, elsewhere discussed by Malaspina et al. [2014], which explains the observed pulse amplitude and polarity for interstellar dust impacts, as well as the non-detection of nanodust. This proposed mechanism might be the dominant dust detection mechanism by some wave instruments using dipole antennas.
Print ISSN:
0094-8276
Electronic ISSN:
1944-8007
Topics:
Geosciences
,
Physics
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