Colloquium: The dust-heliosphere connection
The Sun and planets are embedded in the zodiacal dust cloud, originating from comets and asteroids. In addition, interstellar dust from the local interstellar neighbourhood moves through the solar system and can be measured by in situ instruments on spacecraft. These interplanetary and interstellar dust measurements provide unique ground truth information about cosmic dust, complementary to astronomical observations. Since these particles are charged in the heliosphere, they also interact with the solar wind that governs the trajectories of mainly the smaller dust particles (< ca. 100 nanometer).
The dust particles are crucial pieces of information on the origins of the solar system via their link with their parent bodies, and on the birthplaces of interstellar dust and processes in the interstellar medium. Since their trajectories are affected by the environment they move through (our heliosphere), they can be seen as tracers for the local environment, providing additional boundary conditions for heliospheric modelling. Moreover, the zodiacal dust cloud and heliosphere are proxies for exoplanet systems with debris disks and/or astrospheres.
This talk will briefly review the current state of the art of in situ interstellar and interplanetary dust research (simulations, in situ measurements, sample return and calibrations), in order to provide a complementary perspective to the astronomer's views on local cosmic dust. We dive deeper into the heliosphere-dust interaction on the global (heliospheric) and local (1AU) scales. The talk will end with a focus on relevant near-future missions that are planned with dust measurements (Europa Clipper, JUICE, IMAP, Destiny+) and on future mission concepts (Interstellar Probe, DOLPHIN, Lunar Gateway, SunCHASER) that may measure interstellar and interplanetary dust near the 2030s and beyond.