Radiation pressure force acting on cometary aggregates

Abstract We study the radiation pressure on cometary dust over a wide size range in order to discuss the properties of particles in cometary dust trails and meteor streams. Our model calculations utilize aggregates consisting of spherical monomers of 0.1 μm in radius as an analogue of cometary dust. We then estimate the radiation pressure on aggregates over a wide size range in order to discuss the properties of particles in cometary dust trails and meteor streams. We find that the influence of the radiation pressure force is stronger on large aggregates than on spherical particles of the same mass. Our study shows that aggregates on bound orbits in the solar system must have a fractal dimension close to three and that dust particles in observed cometary trails and meteor streams are more massive than previously estimated with spherical particles.