5,200 tons of space dust falls on Earth each year, study finds

[Admin]

Two decades' worth of Antarctic research reveals 5,200 tons of extraterrestrial dust lands on Earth each year.

5,200 tons of space dust falls on Earth each year, study finds : Read more

 

[rod]

"This information can help scientists understand the role that interplanetary dust played in supplying water and carbonaceous molecules to a young Earth early in our planet's formation history."

An area of active study. Asteroids, meteorites, comets, and carbon abundance in the solar nebula and accretion disk, as well as pebble accretion reports. Earth should have much more carbon it seems in various reports. Then there is the star formation from a gas could, e.g. the solar nebula for creating the Sun and solar system. New studies in Orion show models concerning accretion vs. core-collapse, can make a real difference in star sizes formed. Surprise twist suggests stars grow competitively, https://phys.org/news/2021-04-stars-competitively.html

My observation. This report (Surprise twist...) suggest that the solar nebula model used to explain the origin of our Sun and solar system, is based upon time and chance. The solar nebula could just as easily collapse and form a very small star or very large stars, depending upon various initial masses assumed in the model and accretion vs. core-collapse assumptions. The Earth could just as easily end up orbiting a 0.1 solar mass red dwarf or a star larger than Sirius. Combine with asteroid impacts, meteors, comets, and pebble accretion, a dice roll hoping for the best The common motif I see, catastrophism is used throughout to explain our origins today Various ancient cosmogonies have the same motif e.g. Babylonian, Assyrian, etc.

 

[Helio]

It's strange to see the 5200ton/year when I recall a number closer to 36,000 tons/year (~ 100 tpd). Is the higher number the amount that enters our atmosphere vs. what survives to the surface?

The solar nebula could just as easily collapse and form a very small star or very large stars, depending upon various initial masses assumed in the model and accretion vs. core-collapse assumptions.

The nebula that gave us the Sun also produced up to 3000 other stars. [Some nebulae produce up to 1 million stars or more. But those have densities that would have likely caused far too much orbital disruption for the planets we have.]

The Earth could just as easily end up orbiting a 0.1 solar mass red dwarf or a star larger than Sirius.

Well, to have a planet identical to Earth likely requires very unique circumstances, and red dwarfs don't seem likely to favor anything Earth-like as a planet, though this is still a new field of study.

 

[rod]

Interesting, the Sun born from a nebula containing perhaps 3,000 other stars. Referring to the star formation report I identified in post #2, we have only 692 potential identified in that nebula and Orion nebula has many hot young stars, a number quite massive. The Core Mass Function in the Orion Nebula Cluster Region: What Determines the Final Stellar Masses?, https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2041-8213/abe7dd, 22-March-2021.

This morning between 0500-0600 EDT, I enjoyed views of Jupiter in Capricornus along with Saturn. There were five Galilean moons visible in my telescope One was the star Mu Cap less than 4 arcminutes from Jupiter's limb where Io, Europa, and Callisto moons were and nearly in line with them so looked like another moon

Can I see those other 2,999 stars (or perhaps a bit less) from the stellar nursery that birthed the Sun like I could see Mu Cap (Mu Capricorni) near Jupiter and its moons this morning?