Radiation pressure on fluffy submicron-sized grains

TL;DR

This study examines how radiation pressure affects fluffy submicron dust grains, finding that the force ratio remains below unity even with high porosity or inclusions, impacting interpretations of dust grain origins and behaviors.

Contribution

The paper provides new insights into the effects of porosity and inclusions on radiation pressure on dust grains, challenging previous assumptions of high force ratios.

Findings

Maximum beta is nearly independent of porosity.

Beta decreases with porosity for grains smaller than 0.3 μm.

Radiation pressure effects are insufficient to classify Stardust particles as interstellar.

Abstract

We investigate the claim that the ratio {\beta} of radiation pressure force to gravitational force on a dust grain in our solar system can substantially exceed unity for some grain sizes, provided that grain porosity is high enough. For model grains consisting of random aggregates of silicate spherules, we find that the maximum value of {\beta} is almost independent of grain porosity, but for small (<0.3 {\mu}m) grains, {\beta} actually decreases with increasing porosity. We also investigate the effect of metallic iron and amorphous carbon inclusions in the dust grains and find that while these inclusions do increase the radiation pressure cross-section, {\beta} remains below unity for grains with 3 pg of silicate material. These results affect the interpretation of the grain trajectories estimated from the {\it Stardust} mission, which were modeled assuming {\beta} values exceeding one. We find that radiation pressure effects are not large enough for particles Orion and Hylabrook captured by {\it Stardust} to be of interstellar origin given their reported impact velocities. We also consider the effects of solar radiation on transverse velocities and grain spin, and show that radiation pressure introduces both transverse velocities and equatorial spin velocities of several hundred meters per second for incoming interstellar grains at 2 AU. These transverse velocities are not important for modeling trajectories, but such spin rates may result in centrifugal disruption of aggregates.