Study of grain compositions in comet Levy 1990XX

TL;DR

This study models the polarization of dust grains in comet Levy 1990XX using the T-matrix method to analyze how different silicate compositions and non-spherical shapes affect observed polarization data.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed analysis of non-spherical dust grains with various silicate compositions in comet Levy 1990XX using the T-matrix method, which is novel in this context.

Findings

Different silicate compositions influence polarization characteristics.

Non-spherical grain models better fit observed polarization data.

Insights into dust grain properties in comet Levy 1990XX.

Abstract

In the present work, the non-spherical dust grain characteristics of comet Levy 1990XX with different silicate grain compositions (both pyroxene and olivine) are studied using the T-matrix method. Considering amorphous pyroxene grain (Mg$_x$Fe$_{1-x}$SiO$_3$) with $x$ (= 0.4, 0.5, 0.6, 0.7, 0.8, 0.95, 1) and amorphous olivine grain (Mg$_{2y}$Fe$_{2-2y}$SiO$_4$) with $y$ (= 0.4, 0.5) (Dorschner et al. 1995), the observed polarization data of comet Levy1990XX are analyzed using the T-matrix code at $\lambda$ = 0.485 $\mu m$.