title: Dust measurements in the coma of comet 81P/Wild 2 by the Dust Flux Monitor Instrument.
abstract: We present measurements of the dust particle flux and mass distribution from the Stardust Dust Flux Monitor Instrument (DFMI) throughout the flyby of comet 81P/Wild 2. In the particle mass regime from 10(-14) to 10(-7) kilograms, the spacecraft encountered regions of intense swarms of particles, together with bursts of activity corresponding to clouds of particles only a few hundred meters across. This fine-scale structure can be explained by particle fragmentation. We estimate that 2800 +/- 500 particles of diameter 15 micrometers or larger impacted the aerogel collectors, the largest being approximately 6 x 10(-7) kilograms, which dominates the total collected mass.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Astrophysics and Space Research, Enrico Fermi Institute, University of Chicago, 933 East 56th Street, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.
authors.forename: Anthony J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Tuzzolino
authors.forename: Thanasis E
authors.initials: TE
authors.lastname: Economou
authors.forename: Ben C
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Clark
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Tsou
authors.forename: Donald E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Brownlee
authors.forename: Simon F
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Green
authors.forename: J A M
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: McDonnell
authors.forename: Neil
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: McBride
authors.forename: Melusine T S H
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Colwell
mesh_terms: D019443:Cosmic Dust; D005740:Gases; D019110:Meteoroids; D018531:Spacecraft
chemical_list: D019443:Cosmic Dust; D005740:Gases