Electromagnetic forces on a relativistic spacecraft in the interstellar medium

Abstract

A relativistic spacecraft of the type envisioned by the Breakthrough Starshot initiative will inevitably get charged through collisions with interstellar particles and UV photons. Interstellar magnetic fields would, therefore, deflect the trajectory of the spacecraft. We calculate the expected deflection for typical interstellar conditions. We also find that the charge distribution of the spacecraft is asymmetric, producing an electric dipole moment. The interaction between the moving electric dipole and the interstellar magnetic field is found to produce a large torque, which can result in fast oscillation of the spacecraft around the axis perpendicular to the direction of motion, with a period of $\sim$ 0.5 hr. We then study the spacecraft rotation arising from impulsive torques by dust bombardment. Finally, we discuss the effect of the spacecraft rotation and suggest several methods to mitigate it.

arXiv commentApJ, in press; 9 pages, 6 figures

References in corpus (9)

• A terrestrial planet candidate in a temperate orbit around Proxima Centauri
• The Space Weather of Proxima Centauri b
• Subsonic Mechanical Alignment of Irregular Grains
• Prospects for Characterizing the Atmosphere of Proxima Centauri b
• The Interstellar Magnetic Field Close to the Sun II
• The interaction of relativistic spacecrafts with the interstellar medium
• Deceleration of high-velocity interstellar photon sails into bound orbits at $\alpha$ Centauri
• On origin and destruction of relativistic dust and its implication for ultrahigh energy cosmic rays
• Relativistic Gas Drag on Dust Grains and Implications

Cited by in corpus (18)

• First Multimessenger Observations of a Neutron Star Merger
• Inverse reconstruction of jet structure from off-axis gamma-ray burst afterglows
• Searching for the radio remnants of short duration gamma-ray bursts
• Propulsion of Spacecrafts to Relativistic Speeds Using Natural Astrophysical Sources
• Why planetary and exoplanetary protection differ: The case of long duration Genesis missions to habitable but sterile M-dwarf oxygen planets
• Interstellar Now! Missions to and Sample Returns from Nearby Interstellar Objects
• Multi-scale photonic emissivity engineering for relativistic lightsail thermal regulation
• Spinup and Disruption of Interstellar Asteroids by Mechanical Torques, and Implications for 1I/2017 U1 (`Oumuamua)
• Relativistic light sails need to billow
• Challenges in Scientific Data Communication from Low-Mass Interstellar Probes
• Can Planet Nine Be Detected Gravitationally by a Sub-Relativistic Spacecraft?
• Photogravimagnetic assists of light sails: a mixed blessing for Breakthrough Starshot?
• Radiation Effects from ISM and Cosmic Ray Particle Impacts on Relativistic Spacecraft
• A light sail astrobiology precursor mission to Enceladus and Europa
• Constraints on the abundance of $0.01c$ stellar engines in the Milky Way
• Impacts of Dust Grains Accelerated by Supernovae on the Moon
• Galactic Traversability: A New Concept for Extragalactic SETI
• A search for Planet Nine with small spacecraft:Three-body, post-Newtonian, non-gravitational, planetary and Kuiper Belt effects