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Getting a Handle on How Much Cosmic Dust Hits Earth
A starry sky, with a bright column due to zodiacal light, illuminates the desert landscape around Cerro Paranal, home to ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT).
Does Earth have a dust build-up problem?
Estimates vary of how much cosmic dust and meteorites enter Earth’s atmosphere each day, but range anywhere from 5 to 300 metric tons, with estimates made from satellite data and extrapolations of meteorite falls. Thing is, no one really knows for sure and so far there hasn’t been any real coordinated efforts to find out. But a new project proposal called Cosmic Dust in the Terrestrial Atmosphere (CODITA) would provide more accurate estimates of how much material hits Earth, as well as how it might affect the atmosphere.
“We have a conundrum – estimates of how much dust comes in vary by a factor of a hundred,” said John Plane from University of Leeds in the UK. “The aim of CODITA is to resolve this huge discrepancy.”
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Read the rest of Getting a Handle on How Much Cosmic Dust Hits Earth (598 words)
© nancy for Universe Today, 2012. | Permalink | No comment |
Post tags: CODITA, cosmic dust, noctilucent clouds
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