Kordylewski clouds are large concentrations of
dust
Dust is made of fine particles of solid matter. On Earth, it generally consists of particles in the atmosphere that come from various sources such as soil lifted by wind (an aeolian process), volcanic eruptions, and pollution. Dust in homes ...
that exist at the and
Lagrangian point
In celestial mechanics, the Lagrange points (; also Lagrangian points or libration points) are points of equilibrium for small-mass objects under the influence of two massive orbiting bodies. Mathematically, this involves the solution of th ...
s of the Earth–Moon system.
They were first reported by Polish astronomer
Kazimierz Kordylewski
Kazimierz Kordylewski (born 11 October 1903 in Poznań – 11 March 1981 in Kraków, Poland) was a Polish astronomer.
In 1956, he claimed the discovery of the Kordylewski clouds, large transient concentrations of dust at the Trojan points of the ...
in the 1960s, and confirmed to exist in October 2018.
Discovery and observation
Kordylewski began looking for a
photometrically confirmable concentration of dust at the libration (Lagrangian) points in 1951.
After a change in method suggested by Josef Witkowski, the clouds were first seen by Kordylewski in 1956.
Between 6 March and 6 April 1961, he succeeded in photographing two bright patches near the Lagrange point. During the observation time, the patches hardly appeared to move relative to . The observations were taken from the mountain
Kasprowy Wierch
Kasprowy Wierch (; Slovak; ''Kasprov vrch''; sometimes in ''Kasper Peak'') is a peak of a long crest (ridgeline) in the Western Tatras one of Poland's main winter ski areas. Its dominant southern crests, WSW and ESE, mark the border with Slovak ...
.
[
In 1967, J. Wesley Simpson made observations of the clouds using the ]Kuiper Airborne Observatory
The Gerard P. Kuiper Airborne Observatory (KAO) was a national facility operated by NASA to support research in infrared astronomy. The observation platform was a highly modified Lockheed C-141A Starlifter jet transport aircraft (s/n: 6110, regi ...
.
In October 2018, the existence of the Kordylewski clouds was reported to have been confirmed,Hiten Hiten may refer to:
* Hiten (name), Indian given name
* Hiten (spacecraft), Japanese lunar probe
*Tennin
, which may include , , and the specifically female version, the , are a divine kind of spiritual beings found in Japanese Buddhism, the ...
space probe, which passed through the Lagrange points to detect trapped dust particles, did not find an obvious increase in dust levels above the density in surrounding space.[
]
Hiten's failure to find the Kordylewski clouds does not rule out their existence, since the probe revolved around each Lagrange point for only one loop and could have missed the clouds.
Appearance
The Kordylewski clouds are a very faint phenomenon, comparable to the brightness of the gegenschein
Gegenschein (; ; ) or counterglow is a faintly bright spot in the night sky centered at the antisolar point. The backscatter of sunlight by interplanetary dust causes this optical phenomenon.
Explanation
Like zodiacal light, gegenschein is su ...
.[ but may be visible to the unaided eye in an exceptionally dark and clear night sky. Most claimed observations have been made from deserts, at sea, or from mountains.][ The clouds appear somewhat redder than the gegenschein, indicating that they may be made of a different kind of particle.][
The Kordylewski clouds are located near the and ]Lagrange point
In celestial mechanics, the Lagrange points (; also Lagrangian points or libration points) are points of equilibrium for small-mass objects under the influence of two massive orbiting bodies. Mathematically, this involves the solution of th ...
s of the Earth–Moon system. They are about 6 degrees in angular diameter
The angular diameter, angular size, apparent diameter, or apparent size is an angular distance describing how large a sphere or circle appears from a given point of view. In the vision sciences, it is called the visual angle, and in optics, it is ...
.[ The clouds can drift up to 6 to 10 degrees from those points.][ Other observations suggest they move around the Lagrange points in ellipses of about 6 by 2 degrees.][
]
See also
*
*
Notes
References
*
*
Hypothetical Planets
by Francisco Valdes and Robert A. Freitas Jr., did not find any objects at the Earth–Moon or Earth–Sun lagrange points, but this survey was not sensitive to diffuse clouds.
*
One of Earth’s shimmering dust clouds has been spotted at last
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kordylewski Cloud
claimed moons of Earth
science and technology in Poland
trojans (astronomy)