Mars Dust

Ralph A good guess based on what we know about our planet can be a good
idea,and a good idea is what most theories are. Bert PS sorry about
the "HI" it was not meant to be personal(just polite)

"G=EMC^2 Glazier" wrote in message
...
Well I'm laughing for I have the dust of Mt Saint Hellens,and it is a
fine powder. So lets make that four ways for the dust of Mars to be
every were. How could have I left out volcanoes on Mars?Especially with
its red magnetic powdered iron surface. I jump before I think
Bert

I too have a jar of Mt. St. Helens ash. Quite fine, isn't it?

BV.

Bert posted:

It is written that Mars dust was created by meteorites pounding the
planet.

The dust on Mars comes from a number of sources. Weathering of the rocks is
one big reason (water, temperature variations, ect.). Impacts produced a
little of the material which eventually became dust, but not in the same way
that long-term micrometorite erosion produced almost all of the dust on the
surface of the moon. Those fine meteoroids can't penetrate the thin Martian
atmosphere without burning up on entry.

I can live with that,but I would think a lot came as dust from
dust in space.

The dust on the surface is mostly of surface rock composition and not at all
like the very fine and very thin dust found in interstellar space. The solar
wind keeps much of interstellar dust away from the inner solar system.
--
David W. Knisely
Prairie Astronomy Club: http://www.prairieastronomyclub.org
Hyde Memorial Observatory: http://www.hydeobservatory.info/

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* Attend the 10th Annual NEBRASKA STAR PARTY *
* July 27-Aug. 1st, 2003, Merritt Reservoir *
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David Is the solar wind harmful to one cell life? Can the solar
wind play any part in breaking down sand molecules? Could the solar
wind create the powdery dust on our moon? Bert.

Bert posted:

Is the solar wind harmful to one cell life?

It is, but so is the near-vacuum it blows in.

Can the solar
wind play any part in breaking down sand molecules?

Not really. Sand on the Earth and Mars are protected by atmospheres, so the
solar wind never reaches the surface.

Could the solar
wind create the powdery dust on our moon?

Not by itself. The solar wind is mostly protons, helium nucleii and a few
other particles, so it can't do much to break up rock structure into dust the
way meteroroid and micrometeoroid bombardment can.
--
David W. Knisely
Prairie Astronomy Club: http://www.prairieastronomyclub.org
Hyde Memorial Observatory: http://www.hydeobservatory.info/

**********************************************
* Attend the 10th Annual NEBRASKA STAR PARTY *
* July 27-Aug. 1st, 2003, Merritt Reservoir *
* http://www.NebraskaStarParty.org *
**********************************************