Micron-sized extrasolar grains have been convincingly detected by
spacecraft. Larger extrasolar grains (5-35 microns) have probably been
detected as meteors in Earth's atmosphere, using radar facilities.
Grains larger than ~ 10 microns can travel through the interstellar
medium for tens of parsecs without being destroyed or substantially
deflected, opening up the possibility that ground-based radar systems
can detect AGB stars, young stellar objects, and stars with debris
disks ("Vega-like" stars). I'll present rough estimates of the meteoroid
fluxes at Earth from these types of objects and conclude that modest
improvements to existing radar systems should allow for the detection
of multiple nearby dust sources.
Tuesday, October 21st
Seminar is to be held at 4:00 PM in the conference room
on the second floor of Dearborn Observatory
Refreshments will be served at 3:30
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