Structure of the zodiacal cloud: New analytical and numerical solutions

Abstract

Recent results of analytical and numerical modelling of the interplanetary dust (IPD) distribution are described. They have been obtained with a new techniques employing the continuity equation written in the space of orbital coordinates. A 3-D structure and the corresponding 2-D slices for the IPD cloud governed by the Poynting-Robertson drag are computed in the framework of our 'reference model', accounting for almost all of the known major sources of dust (5000 asteroids and 217 comets). We discuss also the origin and structure of the 'dust bands' and the resonant ring near Earth.