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Experiments on Dust Grain ChargingDust particles in various astrophysical environments are charged by a variety of mechanisms generally involving collisional processes with other charged particles and photoelectric emission with UV radiation from nearby sources. The sign and the magnitude of the particle charge are determined by the competition between the charging processes by UV radiation and collisions with charged particles. Knowledge of the particle charges and equilibrium potentials is important for understanding of a number of physical processes. The charge of a dust grain is thus a fundamental parameter that influences the physics of dusty plasmas, processes in the interplanetary medium and interstellar medium, interstellar dust clouds, planetary rings, cometary and outer atmospheres of planets etc. In this paper we present some results of experiments on charging of dust grains carried out on a laboratory facility capable levitating micron size dust grains in an electrodynamic balance in simulated space environments. The charging/discharging experiments were carried out by exposing the dust grains to energetic electron beams and UV radiation. Photoelectric efficiencies and yields of micron size dust grains of SiO2, and lunar simulates obtained from NASA-JSC will be presented.
Document ID
20050109836
Acquisition Source
Marshall Space Flight Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Abbas, M. N.
(NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL, United States)
Craven, P. D.
(NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL, United States)
Spann, J. F.
(NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL, United States)
Tankosic, D.
(Alabama Univ. Huntsville, AL, United States)
LeClair, A.
(Alabama Univ. Huntsville, AL, United States)
West, E. A.
(NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL, United States)
Date Acquired
August 22, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 2004
Subject Category
Astrophysics
Meeting Information
Meeting: American Geophysical Union 2004 Fall Annual Meeting
Location: San Francisco, CA
Country: United States
Start Date: December 13, 2004
End Date: December 17, 2004
Sponsors: American Geophysical Union
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.

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