Every year, as Earth travels around the sun, it collects cosmic dust. This dust comes from comets and asteroids that orbit the sun. Around 5 to 300 metric tons (about 5.5 to 330 US tons) of this dust enter Earth’s atmosphere every day.
To better understand cosmic dust, Professor John Plane and his team at the University of Leeds in Great Britain created a new experimental tool called the Meteoric Ablation Simulator (MASI).
David Bones, one of the researchers, said that recent advances in computing technology allowed them to develop MASI. This tool helps with precise timing and complex computations.
Currently, scientists use theoretical calculations to understand how cosmic dust particles evaporate in Earth’s atmosphere. These calculations rely on data from radar and optical observations. The model created at Leeds, however, can simulate the evaporation of each component of cosmic dust, such as silicon, iron, magnesium, sodium, and calcium.
To verify these calculations, the researchers built MASI and used particles with similar compositions to those found in cosmic dust.
Bones explained, “During our 12-second simulation of particle entry, we aim to take 6,000 measurements. We rapidly change the temperature of the filament to heat the particle quickly while receiving real-time feedback.”
Their findings showed that their measurements for sodium and iron atmospheric evaporation matched the model, but the calcium measurements did not. This suggests that ablation models might need to consider other factors when cosmic dust particles enter Earth’s atmosphere.
However, cosmic dust isn’t just random floating particles in space. Besides helping us understand other planets’ atmospheres and their formation, these particles affect radio communications, climate, and even act as fertilizers for phytoplankton in the ocean.
With tools like the MASI, we’re learning more about how metallic particles in cosmic dust interact with the Earth’s upper atmosphere and the metal layers present there. This knowledge can help us understand how planets form and can have practical uses, like improving jet engines.
Bones said, “By understanding how particles melt and break down, we can design jet engines that can withstand ash clouds, like the one from the Eyjafjallajökull volcano eruption in 2010.”
