ORIGIN OF INTERPLANETARY DUST THROUGH OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF ZODIACAL LIGHT

Abstract

This study investigates the origin of interplanetary dust particles (IDPs)\nthrough the optical properties, albedo and spectral gradient, of zodiacal\nlight. The optical properties were compared with those of potential parent\nbodies in the solar system, which include D-type (as analogue of cometary\nnuclei), C-type, S-type, X-type, and B-type asteroids. We applied Bayesian\ninference on the mixture model made from the distribution of these sources, and\nfound that >90% of the interplanetary dust particles originate from comets (or\nits spectral analogues, D-type asteroids). Although some classes of asteroids\n(C-type and X-type) may make a moderate contribution, ordinary chondrite-like\nparticles from S-type asteroids occupy a negligible fraction of the\ninterplanetary dust cloud complex. The overall optical properties of the\nzodiacal light were similar to those of chondritic porous IDPs, supporting the\ndominance of cometary particles in zodiacal cloud.\n