Abstract
We study penetration of small (less than ∼0.2 micron) charged dust grains of interstellar origin from the vicinity of the heliopause into the inner solar system including the effects of the heliospheric current sheet (downstream and upstream from the termination shock) and the solar cycle variation of the magnetic field. The method consists of integrating the equations of motion of charged dust grains in the model of the heliosphere and the heliospheric magnetic field based on that of Nerney et al. [1991, 1993, 1995] for sample sets of dust grains. The solar cycle variation of the tilt of the heliospheric current sheet and the magnetic field reversals with the time period of 11 years are taken into account. We find that the wavy current sheet can facilitate the entry of charged dust grains into the inner solar system. The unipolar field regions approaching the ecliptic act as an obstacle, but their effect is reduced if the minimum tilt of the current sheet is not taken equal to zero. Our results suggest that beyond a minimum distance of about 40 AU from the Sun, there should exist a stream of small interstellar dust grains entering the inner heliosphere close to the ecliptic plane.
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