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K. Grogan, S.F. Dermott, M.C. Wyatt (University of Florida)
Recent observations of the size-frequency distribution of zodiacal cloud particles obtained from the LDEF cratering record reveal a significant large particle population (100 micron diameter or greater) near 1 AU. While the Solar System Dynamics group at the University of Florida has had much success in modeling the zodiacal cloud from a dynamical standpoint, our work has been limited by the fact that only small particles (25 micron diameter and smaller) have been considered. This was due to the prohibitvely large amount of computing power required to numerically analyze the dynamical history of larger particles. The recent availability of cheap, fast processors has finally made this work possible. For the first time, we are able to produce models for the components of the zodiacal cloud that include a size-frequency distribution able to match IR observations in multiple wavebands. An analysis of the Solar System dust bands yields a size-frequency distribution in agreement with LDEF, in that large particles are shown to dominate. In the future, our models for other components of the cloud such as Earth's resonant ring and both the asteroidal and cometary backgrounds will be extended in this manner. Our methods are directly applicable to the modeling of circumstellar disk structure, and some results from our modeling of the HR4796 system are also presented.
The author(s) of this abstract have provided an email address for comments about the abstract: grogan@astro.ufl.edu