Interplanetary dust as a research area focuses on the origin, composition, dynamics, and evolution of micron- to millimeter-sized solid particles distributed throughout the Solar System. Studies integrate in situ spacecraft measurements, zodiacal light observations, infrared and submillimeter astronomy, laboratory analysis of collected particles (e.g., micrometeorites), and dynamical modeling of dust production and transport. Key topics include dust sources (comets, asteroids, Kuiper Belt objects), Poynting–Robertson drag, radiation pressure, collisions, and interactions with the solar wind and planetary magnetospheres. This field constrains planetary system formation, surface weathering processes, and the distribution of organic and volatile materials in planetary environments.
The Eta Aquarid meteor shower soon will light the sky with debris from Halley's comet. But a bright moon will spoil the fun this year, making the display harder to glimpse.
Space Exploration
May 3, 2026
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NASA's Curiosity rover has identified seven new organic compounds on the planet Mars, according to new research published in Nature Communications.
Astrobiology
Apr 23, 2026
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Astronomers using the W. M. Keck Observatory on Maunakea, Hawaiʻi Island are revealing new insight into the composition and origins of Uranus's two outer rings. Using data from the Keck Observatory Archive (KOA), combined ...
Planetary Sciences
Apr 16, 2026
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Venus, often called Earth's twin, is in fact a planet of extremes. Beneath its thick carbon dioxide atmosphere are crushing surface temperatures and dense clouds of sulfuric acid. While the planet's main cloud layer sits ...
Planetary Sciences
Apr 14, 2026
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20
Across Earth, every night, thousands of automated stargazers are waiting to take pictures of shooting stars. I am one of the scientists who study these meteors.
Planetary Sciences
Apr 13, 2026
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A Sydney Ph.D. student has recreated a tiny piece of the universe inside a bottle in her laboratory, producing cosmic dust from scratch. The results shed new light on how the chemical building blocks of life may have formed ...
Astronomy
Feb 2, 2026
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170
You can't see, feel, hear, taste or smell them, but tiny particles from space are constantly raining down on us.
General Physics
Jan 7, 2026
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The Cassini probe took its final orbits, referred to as the Grand Finale Orbits (GFOs), in 2017, before launching itself into Saturn's atmosphere. During these GFOs, the probe collected samples of dust above and below Saturn's ...
Tiny particles of space dust could be vital for creating the complex molecules needed for life more quickly, scientists say.
Astrobiology
Nov 24, 2025
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38
The moon has no significant atmosphere, no weather, and no wind. Yet it faces an invisible bombardment more relentless than any terrestrial storm, a constant rain of micrometeoroids, tiny fragments of rock and metal traveling ...
Space Exploration
Nov 12, 2025
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