Hypervelocity dust impacts on theWind spacecraft: Correlations between Ulysses andWind interstellar dust detections

摘要

The Wind spacecraft is positioned just sunward of Earth at the first Lagrange point, while the Ulysses spacecraft orbits above and below the ecliptic plane crossing the ecliptic as far from the Sun as the orbit of Jupiter (~5 AU). While Wind does not carry a dedicated dust detector, we demonstrate the ability of Wind electric field measurements to detect hypervelocity dust impacts through their impact plasma signatures. Interstellar dust (ISD) and interplanetary dust particles are differentiated based on a yearly modulation of the ISD flux. Measurements of ISD flux variation by Wind are found to be in good agreement with ISD flux variation measured by Ulysses.While measurements of the ISD flow direction through the Solar System determined by Wind could not be directly compared to those from Ulysses, strong variation in ISD flow direction was observed during similar time periods by both spacecraft.