Zodiacal Dust: Measurements by Mariner IV

Abstract

Data from the Mariner IV dust-particle experiment reveal an increase by a factor of 5 in the flux of interplanetary dust particles as the heliocentric distance from the sun increases. There is a variation in the slope of the cumulative flux-mass distribution, with the steepest slope for the distribution occurring between the planets. No enhancement of the flux in the vicinity of Mars was detected.