Open AccessResistance of motion to a small, hypervelocity sphere, sputtering through a gas
Author(s) -
Coulson S. G.
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
monthly notices of the royal astronomical society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.058
H-Index - 383
eISSN - 1365-2966
pISSN - 0035-8711
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-8711.2002.05339.x
Subject(s) - physics , meteoroid , atmosphere (unit) , specular reflection , radius , sputtering , astrobiology , hypervelocity , reflection (computer programming) , astrophysics , astronomy , optics , meteorology , thin film , computer security , quantum mechanics , computer science , programming language
Earlier work on the resistance acting on a small sphere moving through a gas is reviewed. A model for the resistance encountered by a sphere, the surface molecules of which are sputtered off during collisions with the gas molecules, is derived and compared with the case of specular reflection. The sputtering model is applied to the case of small 10‐μm radius meteoroids entering the Earth's atmosphere. A possible link between the results obtained and the recent discovery of unheated, organic grains at an altitude of 40 km in the Earth's atmosphere is considered.