Related papers: Dust levitation above the lunar surface: role of c…
Interstellar dust is spread in galaxies over large scales, often far beyond the stellar disks. Several mechanisms can be responsible for carrying the dust both in the vertical and radial directions, producing in general different spatial…
Accretion of interplanetary dust onto gas giant exoplanets is considered. Poynting-Robertson drag causes dust particles from distant reservoirs to slowly inspiral toward the star. Orbital simulations for the three-body system of the star,…
From soap-covered dishes to freshly cleaned floors, surfactants can make surfaces slippery; yet, the underlying mechanism remains poorly understood. Here, we identify the molecular origin behind this ubiquitous phenomenon using macroscopic…
`Super-puffs' are planets with anomalously low mean densities ($\lesssim 10^{-1}~{\rm g\ cm}^{-3}$). With a low surface gravity, the extended atmosphere is susceptible to extreme hydrodynamic mass loss (`boil off') on a timescale much…
The illuminated dusty surface of Mars acts like a gas pump. It is driven by thermal creep at low pressure within the soil. In the top soil layer this gas flow has to be sustained by a pressure gradient. This is equivalent to a lifting force…
Grains in desert sandstorms spontaneously generate strong electrical charges; likewise volcanic dust plumes produce spectacular lightning displays. Charged particle clouds also cause devastating explosions in food, drug and coal processing…
Protoplanetary disk are the foundation of planet formation. Lightning can have a profound impact on the chemistry of planetary atmospheres. The emergence of lightning in a similar manner in protoplanetary disks, would substantially alter…
The long-lived spots caused by the impact of fragments of Comet S-L 9 on Jupiter can be understood if clouds of dust are produced by the impact. These clouds reside in the stratosphere, where they absorb visible light that would ordinarily…
In the backdrop of escalating ambitions for space exploration, particularly with programs like Artemis aiming for a sustainable human presence on the Moon, the issue of efficient and reliable energy transmission has become a critical…
Surface charging is a phenomenon ubiquitously observable in in-situ transmission electron microscopy of non-conducting specimens as a result of electron beam/sample interactions or optical stimuli and often limits the achievable image…
Lightning is present in all solar system planets which form clouds in their atmospheres. Cloud formation outside our solar system is possible in objects with much higher temperatures than on Earth or on Jupiter: Brown dwarfs and giant…
The absence of global magnetic fields is often cited to explain why Mars lacks a dense atmosphere. This line of thought is based on a prevailing theory that magnetic fields can shield the atmosphere from solar wind erosion. However, we…
The model of charge generation is based on the wave model of a particle, for which a brief description is given. The particle is comprised of two photons, captured in the volume of the particle, and reveals the complete relativistic…
We study the dynamics of large, charged dust grains in turbulent giant molecular clouds (GMCs). Massive dust grains behave as aerodynamic particles in primarily neutral dense gas, and thus are able to produce dramatic small-scale…
Protoplanetary disks start their lives with a dust free inner region where the temperatures are higher than the sublimation temperature of solids. As the star illuminates the innermost particles, which are immersed in gas at the sublimation…
The effect of the conducting electrode on the interaction of dust grains in a an ion flow is discussed. It is shown that two grains levitating above the electrode at the same height may attract one another. This results in the instability…
Within the RoadMap project we investigated the microphysical aspects of particle collisions during saltation on the Martian surface in laboratory experiments. Following the size distribution of ejected particles, their aerodynamic…
Electric discharges were detected directly in the cloudy atmospheres of Earth, Jupiter and Saturn, are debatable for Venus, and indirectly inferred for Neptune and Uranus in our solar system. Sprites (and other types of transient luminous…
Electrical discharge at the smallest possible length and charge scales is not well understood. Using optical tweezers, we investigate spontaneous discharges of a single micron-scale particle levitated in air. These ``microdischarges'' have…
Two oppositely charged droplets of (say) water in e.g. oil or air will tend to drift together under the influence of their charges. As they make contact, one might expect them to coalesce and form one large droplet, and this indeed happens…