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Credit: NASA
Explanation:
The dust that pervades our
Solar System is not the dust that pervades our homes.
Solar System dust comes from
comets and
asteroids, whereas
house dust is most likely lint or dead cells.
Pictured above is a piece of
interplanetary dust caught by a high-flying
U2-type aircraft.
It likely originates in the early days of our
Solar System, being stored and later ejected by a
passing comet.
The particle is composed of
glass,
carbon, and a conglomeration of silicate
mineral grains.
It measures only 10
microns across, a tenth the width of a typical
human hair.
NASA's
STARDUST mission,
launched in 1999,
is scheduled to pass through the tail of Comet Wild 2 in 2004 and
return many more
interstellar dust samples to
Earth in 2006.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: comet - dust - interplanetary dust
Publications with words: comet - dust - interplanetary dust
See also:
- APOD: 2025 September 30 B Comet Lemmon Brightens
- APOD: 2025 September 29 B Two Camera Comets in One Sky
- APOD: 2025 September 26 B A SWAN an ATLAS and Mars
- APOD: 2025 September 18 B Comet C/2025 R2 SWAN
- APOD: 2025 September 16 B New Comet SWAN25B over Mexico
- APOD: 2025 August 28 B Galaxies, Stars, and Dust
- APOD: 2025 August 27 B WISPIT 2b: Exoplanet Carves Gap in Birth Disk