Cosmic Dust Particles Hits Earth Every Thousand Seconds, Says ISRO

A recent research done by ISRO says that cosmic dust particles hit the earth every thousand seconds. The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) announced on Monday that an interplanetary dust particle enters Earth’s atmosphere every 1,000 seconds, according to its first experiment to quantify tiny atmospheric dust particles floating around the planet. It verifies that cosmic dust particles strike the Earth’s atmosphere at intervals of about 1,000 seconds (or about 16 minutes).

According to ISRO, the Interplanetary Dust Particles (IDPs) are microscopic shrapnel from asteroids and comets that make up the mysterious meteor layer of our atmosphere and appear as shooting stars at night. “From January 1 to February 9, 2024, the 140-degree wide-view detector effectively recorded signals of orbital debris’ (dust) impacts, proving the instrument’s ability to detect and quantify such events,” ISRO said. “As a cosmic intruder skimmed the Earth’s atmosphere at an angle of 9.5o, the detector recorded multiple strikes every thousand seconds.”

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On January 1, 2024, the 3 kg DEX device was launched into space as part of the XPoSat mission. Additionally, during the experiment conducted in 2024, scientists reported finding cosmic dust.

Because they can help examine the atmospheres of Venus, Mars, and other celestial objects, DEX-like devices are essential for planetary exploration. Understanding cosmic dust particles is essential for shielding spacecraft and satellites from the effects of high-velocity micro-impacts, which makes the conclusions noteworthy. Data on cosmic dust particles will also be useful for the planning and execution of Gaganyaan, India’s first manned space mission.

The majority of the atmosphere is made up of gaseous substances, as well as dust from comets, meteors, asteroids, or other similar hard-body celestial bodies.