Nanodust detection with Cassini CDA - Implications for DESTINY+ and Interstellar Probe | CU Experts

<p>The Cosmic Dust Analyzer (CDA) onboard Cassini characterized successfully the dust environment at Saturn from 2004 to 2017. Besides the study of Saturn&#8217;s E ring and its interaction with the embedded moons, CDA detected nanoparticles in the outer Saturn system moving on unbound orbits and originating primarily from Saturn&#8217;s E-ring. Although the instrument was built to detect micron and sub-micron sized particles, nano-sized grains were detected during the flyby at early Jupiter and in the outer environment at Saturn. Fast dust particles with sizes below 10 nm were measured by in-situ impact ionization and mass spectra were recorded. What are the limits of in-situ hypervelocity impact detection and what can be expected with current high-resolution mass spectrometers as flown onboard the missions DESTINY+ or EUROPA? Is the sensitivity of Dust Telescopes sufficient to detect nano-diamonds in interstellar space? This presentation summarizes the current experience of in-situ dust detectors and gives a prediction for future missions. In summary, current Dust Telescopes with integrated high-resolution mass spectrometers are more sensitive than the CASSINI Cosmic Dust Analyzer.</p>

Srama R; Hillier JK; Hsu S; Kempf S; Kobayashi M; Krueger H; Moragas-Klostermeyer G; Mocker A; Simolka J; Sterken V

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