Cosmic dust particles find themselves between the end of one star’s lifetime and at the beginning of the formation of a new solar system.Ī star forms from the collapse of a gas cloud made up of hydrogen and helium, elements that were created in the aftermath of the Big Bang. Cosmic dust is made up of tiny mineral grains in the nano and micrometer size range (one billionth and one millionth of a metre, respectively). We all know how quickly empty spaces fill with dust and, figuratively speaking, the cosmos is no different. What’s more, it may even have provided our planet with water – and kick-started life. It is thought to have played a crucial role in the formation and evolution of our solar system. This “interplanetary dust” is hugely important. The authors of the study ruled out Mars itself and its moons Phobos and Deimos as the sources of the dust and concluded that it must come from a larger dust cloud floating around between the planets in our solar system. NASA recently reported that a cloud of dust was surrounding Mars high above its atmosphere. This article is published in collaboration with The Conversation.
