Gas-Dust Interaction in the Accretion of Interstellar Dust by the Sun.

Abstract

view Abstract Citations References (4) Co-Reads Similar Papers Volume Content Graphics Metrics Export Citation NASA/ADS Gas-Dust Interaction in the Accretion of Interstellar Dust by the Sun. Stephenson, Charles B. Abstract As is well known, the suggestion that the sun's family of comets was acquired by accretion of dust from the interstellar medium encounters a difficulty in the form of the interaction between dust and radiation pressure. If the general nature of the dust is correctly characterized by current views, the solar radiation pressure upon a particle exceeds the gravitational force for a large fraction of the total population of particles. Hence it is of interest to investigate the possibility that the dust can nevertheless be accreted through interaction with the interstellar gas. Approximate calculations have been made to ascertain the behavior of dust particles of the order of 10- cm in diameter, for which p 1.0, in the radiation field of the sun and subject to viscosity effects in the interstellar gas. It is concluded that interaction between gas and such dust particles cannot compensatefor the influence of radiation pressure for a gas density in the unperturbed cloud < 10 atoms/cm3 and for relative velocities of the order of 5 km/sec between star and cloud Much lower velocities favor dust capture more than do the velocities discussed here, but they involve excessive accretion of gas by the sun. Publication: The Astrophysical Journal Pub Date: July 1957 DOI: 10.1086/146385 Bibcode: 1957ApJ...126..195S full text sources ADS |