Dust measurements in the coma of comet 81P/Wild 2 by the Dust Flux Monitor Instrument |
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| Authors: | Tuzzolino Anthony J Economou Thanasis E Clark Ben C Tsou Peter Brownlee Donald E Green Simon F McDonnell J A M McBride Neil Colwell Melusine T S H |
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| Institution: | Laboratory for Astrophysics and Space Research, Enrico Fermi Institute, University of Chicago, 933 East 56th Street, Chicago, IL 60637, USA. |
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| Abstract: | We present measurements of the dust particle flux and mass distribution from the Stardust Dust Flux Monitor Instrument (DFMI) throughout the flyby of comet 81P/Wild 2. In the particle mass regime from 10(-14) to 10(-7) kilograms, the spacecraft encountered regions of intense swarms of particles, together with bursts of activity corresponding to clouds of particles only a few hundred meters across. This fine-scale structure can be explained by particle fragmentation. We estimate that 2800 +/- 500 particles of diameter 15 micrometers or larger impacted the aerogel collectors, the largest being approximately 6 x 10(-7) kilograms, which dominates the total collected mass. |
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