The Dynamics of Dust Grains in the Outer Solar System

TL;DR

This paper models the complex dynamics of dust grains beyond 250 AU in the Solar System, revealing how various forces influence their trajectories and potential ejection, especially for grains smaller than 100 microns.

Contribution

It introduces a novel analytical framework based on the Stark problem to describe dust grain motion under combined forces in the outer Solar System.

Findings

Dust grains smaller than ~100 microns are ejected by electric forces.

Bound grains exhibit orbital precession and eccentricity variations.

Orbital decay is limited by cloud passages, preventing significant inward migration.

Abstract

We study the dynamics of large dust grains >1 micron with orbits outside of the heliosphere (beyond 250 AU). Motion of the Solar System through the interstellar medium (ISM) at a velocity of 26 km/s subjects these particles to gas and Coulomb drag (grains are expected to be photoelectrically charged) as well as the Lorentz force and the electric force caused by the induction electric field. We show that to zeroth order the combined effect of these forces can be well described in the framework of the classical Stark problem: particle motion in a Keplerian potential subject to an additional constant force. Based on this analogy, we elucidate the circumstances in which the motion becomes unbound, and show that under local ISM conditions dust grains smaller than ~100 microns originating in the Oort Cloud (e.g. in collisions of comets) beyond 10000 AU are ejected from the Solar System under the action of the electric force. Orbital motion of larger, bound grains is described analytically using the orbit-averaged Hamiltonian approach and consists of orbital plane precession at a fixed semi-major axis, accompanied by the periodic variations of the inclination and eccentricity (the latter may approach unity in some cases). A more detailed analysis of the combined effect of gas and Coulomb drag shows it is possible to reduce particle semi-major axes, but that the degree of orbital decay is limited (a factor of several at best) by passages through atomic and molecular clouds, which easily eject small particles.