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Constraining the Ratio of Micrometeoroids From Short‐ and Long‐Period Comets at 1 AU From LADEE Observations of the Lunar Dust Cloud

2018; American Geophysical Union; Volume: 45; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1002/2017gl076065

1944-8007

Diego Janches, Petr Pokorný, M. Sarantos, J. R. Szalay, M. Horányi, David Nesvorný,

Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies

Abstract We interpret recent observations of the secondary dust ejecta cloud around the Moon from the Lunar Dust Experiment (LDEX) on board the NASA Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) spacecraft with help from dynamical models of meteoroids. Results suggest that in order to match the spatial structure of observed ejecta profiles, the flux of meteoroids on the Moon must be primarily provided by short‐period comets with an excess ratio of at least 1.3:1 compared to long‐period comets. This ratio increases significantly if the dependence of the ejecta yield on impactor velocity is stronger than generally believed. The model accounts for the orbital geometry of LADEE and shows no indication of a large asymmetry in the meteoroid flux impacting from the Helion and Anti‐Helion directions.