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Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Nate Rudolph

Published: 06 March 2025

upcoming Game Changers Online Seminar
with Ingrid Mann (UiT Arctic University of Norway)
Thursday, 27th March 2025
(17h CET | 12h EDT)

Game Changers Online Seminar

Solar Wind

Sun

Physics of Dust in the Inner Heliosphere

Webinar with Ingrid Mann (UiT Arctic University of Norway)

Thursday, 27th March 2025 (17h CET | 12h EDT)

Please click here for the Zoom Session

Meeting ID: 852 6990 9362 Password: 459004

Abstract

Currently, the Parker Solar Probe and Solar Orbiter space missions are exploring the inner heliosphere, reaching regions near the Sun that have never been visited by spacecraft before. Antenna measurements from both spacecraft are recording dust impacts; similar antenna measurements are being made near Earth orbit by STEREO and WIND. Together, these missions are providing unprecedented measurements of dust fluxes in the inner heliosphere. New space observations of the solar corona study the F-corona, the light from the solar photosphere scattered by dust particles. These observations reveal some of the physical properties of the dust-plasma interactions that occur in many places in space. Most of the dust is formed by asteroids and comets. The dust in the inner heliosphere is therefore associated with the evolution of small objects in the solar system and the processes are like those in the evolution of planetary debris disks observed around other stars. In addition to discussing the results from ongoing measurements, it is shown how they complement other studies and the measurements with dust instruments planned for upcoming space missions.

About the Speaker

Ingrid Mann is professor in space physics at UiT, Arctic University of Norway in Tromsø. Her research lies in cosmic dust and dusty plasma in space, physics of the heliosphere, ionospheres and interstellar medium, meteors, small solar system objects and planetary debris disks. She works with remote observations, model calculations and space instruments on rockets and deep-space missions. Sheobtained a diploma and a doctorate in Physics from Ruhr University Bochum, Germany and has worked in Europe, Japan, and the USA before moving to Norway in 2016.

History

Starting in the summer of 2020, the International Space Science Institute has organised the weekly on-line seminar series called “Game Changers”. After six series of weekly talks on the themes of “Missions that Changed the Game in Solar System, Astrophysics and Earth Sciences” , “Ideas and Findings about the Solar System, the Universe and our Terrestrial Environment”, “Habitability – From Cosmic to Microbial Scales”, “Viewing Earth from Space – the Changing Environment and Climate of our Planet”, and “Captivating Cosmology: From the Big Bang to Tomorrow” and the topic “Space Environmental Hazards: Mitigation and Prediction”, the webinar series continues on a monthly basis. Watch here all recorded Webinars (ISSI’s YouTube Channel)

Credits ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, A. Martel