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A team of Hungarian astronomers and physicists may have confirmed the presence of two elusive dust clouds, located at semi-stable points just 400,000 kilometers from the Earth. The clouds, first reported by the Polish astronomer Kazimierz Kordylewski in 1961, have been exceptionally weak and their existence is controversial. The new job appears in the log Monthly Notices from the Royal Astronomical Society.
The Earth-Moon system has five points of stability where the gravitational forces maintain the relative position of the objects located there. Two of these so-called Lagrange points, L4 and L5, form an even triangle between the Earth and the Moon and move around the Earth as the Moon moves on its orbit.
L4 and L5 are not completely stable because they are disturbed by the gravitational pull of the Sun. Nevertheless, it is thought that these are places where interplanetary dust could accumulate, at least temporarily. Kordylewski observed two clusters of dust near L5 in 1961, with different reports since then, but their extreme weakness makes them difficult to detect and many scientists have questioned their existence.
In an article published earlier this year, the Hungarian team, led by Gábor Horváth of Eötvös Loránd University, modeled Kordylewski clouds to badess their formation and eventual detection. The researchers looked at their appearance using polarizing filters, which transmit light with a particular direction of oscillation, similar to those found on certain types of sunglbades. The scattered or reflected light is always more or less polarized depending on the angle of diffusion or reflection.
They then went in search of clouds of dust. With a polarizing filter system linearly attached to a camera lens and a CCD detector in Judit Slíz-Balogh's private observatory in Hungary (Badacsonytördemic), scientists exposed the exhibition of the alleged location of the cloud from Kordylewski at point L5.
The images they obtained show a polarized light reflected by the dust, extending well outside the field of view of the camera lens. The model observed corresponds to the predictions made by the same group of researchers in a previous article and corresponds to the first observations of Kordylewski's clouds six decades ago. The Horváth group was able to exclude optical artifacts and other effects, which means that the presence of the dust cloud is confirmed.
Judit Slíz-Balogh comments on their findings. "Kordylewski's clouds are two of the most difficult objects to find, and although they are as close to Earth as the moon, they are largely ignored by astronomers, and it is curious to confirm them. that our planet has dusty pseudo-satellites in orbit alongside our lunar neighbor. "
Given their stability, points L4 and L5 are considered as potential sites for space probes in orbit and as transfer stations for missions exploring the wider solar system. It is also proposed to store pollutants at both locations. Future research will focus on the L4 and L5 layers, as well as badociated Kordylewski clouds, to understand their stability and determine if their dust poses a threat to equipment and future astronauts.
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Media Contacts
Dr. Robert Mbadey
Royal Society of Astronomy
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7292 3979
Mob: +44 (0) 7802 877 699
[email protected]
Dr. Morgan Hollis
Royal Society of Astronomy
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7292 3977
Mob: +44 (0) 7802 877 700
[email protected]
Scientific contacts
Mrs. Judit Slíz-Balogh
Department of Astronomy / Department of Biological Physics / Environmental Optics Laboratory
Eötvös Loránd University
Hungary
[email protected]
Dr. András Barta
Estrato Research and Development Ltd
Hungary
[email protected]
Gábor Horváth
Department of Biological Physics / Environmental Optics Laboratory
Eötvös Loránd University
Hungary
[email protected]
Images and legends
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Artist's view of Kordylewski's cloud in the night sky (with a greatly improved brightness) at the time of observations. Credit: G. Horváth
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Diagram of the polarization angle of the sky around Lagrange point L5 of the Earth-Moon system, measured by polarimetric imaging in the green spectral range (550 nm) at 19:14 on August 15, 2017. The position of point L5 is indicated by a white dot. In this image, the central region of the Kordylewski dust cloud is visible (bright red pixels). Inclined straight lines are traces of satellites. Credit: J. Slíz-Balogh
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Mosaic of polarization angle around L5 point (white point) of the Earth-Moon system. The five rectangular windows correspond to the fields of view of the polarimetric imaging telescope with which the polarization diagrams of the Kordylewski dust cloud were measured. Credit: J. Slíz-Balogh
More information
The new job appears in two articles:
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"Celestial mechanics and polarization optics of the Kordylewski dust cloud in Lagrange Earth-Moon point L5 – Part I. Three-dimensional celestial mechanical modeling of the formation of a cloud of dust", J. Slíz-Balogh, A. Barta and G. Horváth, Monthly Notices from the Royal Astronomical Society (2018), 480 (4): 5550-5559 (DOI: 101093 / mnras / sty2049).
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"Celestial mechanics and polarization optics of the Kordylewski dust cloud at Lagrange Earth-Moon point L5, Part II: Polarimetric imaging observation: new proof of the existence of the Kordylewski dust cloud", J. Slíz-Balogh, A Barta and G. Horváth, Monthly Notices from the Royal Astronomical Society (2018), in press (DOI: 10.1093 / mnras / sty2630).
Notes to editors
Royal Astronomical Society (RAS, http: // www.
The RAS accepts articles for its newspapers based on the principle of peer review, in which the other experts of the editorial boards recognize that this article deserves to be examined. The Company issues press releases on a similar principle, but the organizations and scientists involved have overall responsibility for their content.
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