STEREO SECCHI and S/WAVES Observations of Spacecraft Debris Caused by Micron-Size Interplanetary Dust Impacts

Abstract

Early in the STEREO mission observers noted that the white-light instruments of the SECCHI suite were detecting significantly more spacecraft-related “debris” than any previously flown coronagraphic instruments. Comparison of SECCHI “debris storms” with S/WAVES indicates that almost all are coincident with the most intense transient emissions observed by the radio and plasma waves instrument. We believe the debris is endogenous (i.e., from the spacecraft thermal blanketing), and the storms appear to be caused by impacts of large interplanetary dust grains that are detected by S/WAVES. Here we report the observations, compare them to interplanetary dust distributions, and document a reminder for future spacebased coronagraphic instrument builders.