• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.63-65
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• 2017

The zodiacal light emission is the thermal emission from the interplanetary dust and the dominant diffuse radiation in the mid- to far-infrared wavelength region. Even in the far-infrared, the contribution of the zodiacal emission is not negligible at the region near the ecliptic plane. The AKARI far-infrared all-sky survey covered 97% of the whole sky in four photometric bands with band central wavelengths of 65, 90, 140, and $160{\mu}m$. AKARI detected the small-scale structure of the zodiacal dust cloud, such as the asteroidal dust bands and the circumsolar ring, in far-infrared wavelength region. Although the most part of the zodiacal light structure in the AKARI far-infrared all-sky image can be well reproduced with the DIRBE zodiacal light model, there are discrepancies in the small-scale structures. In particular, the intensity and the ecliptic latitude of the peak position of the asteroidal dust bands cannot be reproduced precisely with the DIRBE models. The AKARI observational data during more than one year has advantages over the 10-month DIRBE data in modeling the full-sky zodiacal dust cloud. The resulting small-scale zodiacal light structure template has been used to subtract the zodiacal light from the AKARI all-sky maps.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.101.1-101.1
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• 2012

Interplanetary dust particles are observable as zodiacal light, which is the sunlight scattered by the interplanetary dust particles. The origins of interplanetary dust particles are still in question because they are eroded by Poynting-Robertson photon drag and mutual collisions among dust particles. The small-scale structures in the zodiacal light provided a clue to specify their origins. Asteroidal debris were detected as band-like structures (dust bands), and the cometary large particles were detected as narrow trails (dust trails). However, little is confirmative about their detailed origins and mineralogical compositions because of the lack of observational data particularly in the optical wavelength. We made a high-resolution optical zodiacal light map based on the CCD observations at Mauna Kea, Hawaii. We analyzed data taken on November 12, 2004. After the data reduction, such as flat fielding and subtraction of airglow emissions, we succeeded in the construction of the zodiacal light map with the spatial resolution of 3' in the solar elongation between 45 degree and 180 degree. This is the highest resolution map in the visible wavelength so far. In this map, we confirmed the dust bands structures near the ecliptic plane. We will discuss about the similarities and the differences between optical and infrared dust bands.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.67-71
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• 2017

Debris disks are circumstellar dust disks around main-sequence stars. They are important observational clues to understanding the planetary system formation. The zodiacal light is the thermal emission from the dust disk in our Solar system. For a comprehensive understanding of the nature and the evolution of dust disks around main-sequence stars, we try a comparative study of debris disks and the zodiacal light. We search for debris disks using the AKARI mid-infrared all-sky point source catalog. By applying accurate flux estimate of the photospheric emission based on the follow-up near-infrared observations with IRSF, we have improved the detection rate of debris disks. For a detailed study of the structure and grain properties in the zodiacal dust cloud, as an example of dust disks around main-sequence stars, we analyze the AKARI mid-infrared all-sky diffuse maps. As a result of the debris disks search, we found old (>1 Gyr) debris disks which have large excess emission compared to their age, which cannot be explained simply by the conventional steady-state evolution model. From the zodiacal light analysis, we find the possibility that the dust grains trapped in the Earth's resonance orbits have increased by a factor of ~3 in the past ~20 years. Combining these results, we discuss the non-steady processes in debris disks and the zodiacal light.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.60.1-60.1
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• 2013

Numerous dust particles are scattered in the interplanetary space of the solar system (Interplanetary Dust Particles; IDPs). The origin of the IDPs is one of the major questions in the solar system astronomy because IDPs are being removed from the solar system within a few million years by photon drag. Comets and asteroids were pointed out as the possible sources of IDPs. Although several dust supplying mechanisms from comets and asteroids have been revealed, amount of contribution from each sources are still not clear. Zodiacal light is sunlight scattered by IDPs. Spectra of zodiacal light can supply important observational clue to reveal the origin of the IDPs, because comets and each type of asteroids have different kind of spectra. However, reflectance spectrum of zodiacal light was not measured at the wavelength of weak atmospheric contamination. We measured the reflectance spectra of zodiacal light from $5000{\AA}$ to $7000{\AA}$. We used open data obtained by the Subaru/FOCAS instruments archived in the SMOKA database. From the longslit spectrum data, we measured spectrum of sky background and estimated flux from the sources other than the zodiacal light. We compared it with the spectra of each type of minor bodies in the solar system, and meteorites originated from these bodies.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.45.2-45.2
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• 2015

It is obvious that there are plentiful of dust particles in the interplanetary spaces of the Solar System (IDPs), based on micrometeor craters, zodiacal light and direct measurements on the spacecraft. Because of photon drag and planetary perturbations, these particles are continuously falling to the Sun or planets, therefore continuous source of the IDPs are required. We studied the fractional contribution of each type of solar system objects to the IDPs complex through the optical properties of the potential dust sources and the zodiacal light. We found that more than 90% of the IDPs are originated from cometary nuclei. This result is discussed through the comparison with the dynamic simulation, micrometeors mineralogy and near-infrared spectrum of the zodiacal light. In addition, we introduce our new project on the numerical simulation for the dust particles ejected from the cometary nuclei, to verify the conclusion of dominant cometary contribution and its detailed consequences.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.54-54
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• 2010

Interplanetary space is filled with dust particles originating mainly from comets and asteroids. Such interplanetary dust particles lose their angular momentum by olar radiation pressure, causing the dust grains to slowly spiral inward Poynting-Robertson effect). As dust particles move into the Sun under the influence of Poynting-Robertson drag force, they may encounter regions of resonance just outside planetary orbits, and be trapped by their gravities, forming the density enhancements in the dust cloud (circumsolar resonance ring). The circumsolar resonance ring near the Earth orbit was detected in the zodiacal cloud through observations of infrared space telescopes. So far, there is no observational evidence other than Earth because of the detection difficulty from Earth bounded orbit. A Venus Climate Orbiter, AKATSUKI, will provide a unique opportunity to study the Venusian resonance ring. It equips a near-infrared camera for the observations of the zodiacal light during the cruising phase. Here we consider whether Venus gravity produces the circumsolar resonance ring around the orbit. We thus perform the dynamical simulation of micron-sized dust particles released outside the Earth orbit. We consider solar radiation pressure, solar gravity, and planetary perturbations. It is found that about 40 % of the dust particles passing through the Venus orbit are trapped by the gravity. Based on the simulation, we estimate the brightness of the Venusian resonance ring from AKATSUKI's locations.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.159-169
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• 2004

This is a proposal to probe local part of the interplanetary dust (IPD) cloud complex and retrieve mean volume emissivity of the local IPDs at mid-infrared wavelengths. This will be done by monitoring, with Infrared Camera (IRC) aboard the ASTRO-F, the annual modulation of the zodiacal emission. In pointing mode of the ASTRO-F mission the spacecraft can make attitude maneuvering over approximately ${\pm}1^{\circ}$ range centered at solar elongation $90^{\circ}$ in the ecliptic plane. The attitude maneuvering combined with high sensitivity of the IRC will provide us with a unique opportunity observationally to take derivatives of the zodiacal emission brightness with respect to the solar elongation. From the resulting differential of the brightness over the ${\pm}1^{\circ}$ range, one can directly determine the mean volume emissivity of the local IPDs with a sufficient accuracy to de-modulate the annual emissivity variations due to the Earth's elliptical motion and the dis-alignment of the maximum IPD density plane with respect to the ecliptic. The non-zero eccentricity ($e_{\oplus}$= 0.0167) of the Earth's orbit combined with the sensitive temperature dependence of the Planck function would bring modulations of amplitude at least $3.34\%$ to the zodiacal emission brightness at mid-infrared wavelengths, with which one may determine the IPD temperature T(r) and mean number density n(r) as functions of heliocentric distance r. This will in turn fix the power-law exponent $\delta$ in the relation $T(r) = T_o(r/r_o)^{-\delta}$ for the dust temperature and v in $n(r) = n_o(r/r_o)^-v$ for the density. We discuss how one may de-couple the notorious degeneracy of cross-section, density, reference temperature $T_o$ and exponent $\delta$.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.10
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• pp.4.1-4.1
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• 1985

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.59-61
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• 2017

The AKARI 9 and 18 µm diffuse maps reveal the all-sky distribution of the interstellar medium with relatively high spatial resolution of ~6". The zodiacal light is a dominant foreground component in the mid-infrared. Thus, removal of the zodiacal light is a critical issue to study low surface brightness Galactic diffuse emission. We carried out modeling of the zodiacal light based on the Kelsall model which is constructed from the COBE data. In the previous study, only a time-varying component of the zodiacal light brightness was used for determination of the model parameters. However, there remains a residual component of the zodiacal light around the ecliptic plane even after removal with the model. Therefore, instead of using a time-varying component, we use the absolute brightness of the zodiacal light and we find that the new model can better remove the residual component. As a result, the best-fit model parameters are changed from those in the previous study. We discuss the properties of the zodiacal light based on our new result.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.48.3-49
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• 2017

Interplanetary space of the solar system contains a large number of dust particles, referred to as Interplanetary Dust Particles (IDPs) cloud complex. They are observable through meteors and zodiacal lights. The relative contribution of possible sources to the IDPs cloud complex was an controversial topic, however, recent research (Yang & Ishiguro, 2015 and references therein) suggested a dominance of cometary origin. In this study, we numerically investigated the orbital evolution of cometary dust particles, with special concerns on different evolutionary tracks and its consequences according to initial orbits, size and particle shape. The effect of dust particle density and initial size-frequency distribution (SFD) were not decisive in total cloud complex mass and mass supply rate, when these physical quantities are confined by observed zodiacal light brightness and dust particle SFD at 1 au. We noticed that, if we assume the existence of fluffy aggregates discovered in the Earth's stratosphere and the coma of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, the required mass supply rate decreases significantly. We also found out that close encounters with planets (mostly Jupiter) are the dominating factor of the orbital evolution of dust particles, as the result, the lifetime of cometary dust particles are shorter than Poynting-Robertson lifetime (around 250 thousand years). As another consequence of severe close encounters, only a small fraction of cometary dust particles can be transferred into the orbit < 1 au. This effect is significant for large size particles of ${\beta}$ < 0.01. The exceptional cases are dust particles ejected from 2P/Encke and active asteroids. Because they rarely encounter with Jupiter, most dust particles ejected from those objects are governed by Poynting-Robertson effect and well transferred into the orbits of small semimajor axis. In consideration of the above effects, we directly estimated probability of mutual collisions between dust particles and concluded that mutual collisions in the IDPs cloud complex is mostly ignorable, except for the case of large sized particles from active asteroids.