The Fate of Nanodust near the Sun - Comparison of Sputtering and Sublimation lifetimes during CMEs

Abstract

The dust environment in the inner Solar system has not been probed so far, but ESA’s Solar Orbiter (2020) and NASA’s Parker Solar Probe (2018) are about cross the inner solar system. From [1] we expect a layer of trapper Nanodust around the Sun. [2] investigated the interaction of grains with the Solar wind. But what is the dust’s fate when they are struck by a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME). Are they destroyed by sputtering from impacting ions or rather sublimate near the sun. This work investigates wheter CME’s deplete the Nanodust population locally.