Astrophys Space Sci
DOI 10.1007/s10509-010-0527-3
O R I G I N A L A RT I C L E
Study on sheath formation in astroplasmas under Coriolis force
and behavior of levitated dust grains forming nebulon around
Moon
G.C. Das Rupa Chakraborty
Received: 22 July 2010 / Accepted: 1 November 2010
Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2010
Abstract Pseudopotential analysis has been employed to
derive a modified Sagdeev potential-like wave equation for
studying the sheath formation in astroplasma problems.
Complexity in process urges to derive the new findings nu-
merically by using fourth-order Runge-Kutta method. Main
emphasis has been given to investigate the role of Corio-
lis force on the formation and changes on coherent struc-
tures of sheath suitably thought for the configuration of as-
troplasma. Study determines the sheath thickness and po-
tential variation with the interaction of Coriolis force and
thereby finds dynamical behavior of levitated dust grains
into the evaluated sheath region. This leads to find the dust
size, and corresponding forces generated on dust grain with
a view to relate theoretical observations to real astrophysi-
cal phenomena and could be of interest to explain formation
of dust clouds in spaces. To support the observations, we
some thoughtful numeric plasma parameters for the case of
Earths Moon, have taken for graphical presentations. Over-
all observations expect the study could be of interest as an
advanced knowledge in rotating astroplasmas, and expecting
many salient features which are yet to be known.
Keywords Nonlinear waves Sheath in rotating plasmas
Nebulons: dust clouds
1 Introduction
The concept of sheath formation in plasmas started from
the famous experiment on discharge phenomena in labo-
ratory by Tonks and Langmuir (1929). Since then many
G.C. Das () R. Chakraborty
Mathematical Science Division, Institute of Advance Study
in Science and Technology, Guwahati 781035, India
e-mail: ganesd@yahoo.com
important and worthy works have been done to establish
the phenomena of sheath formation, not only in the lab-
oratory discharge plasma as an industrial point of view
but also in space and cosmic phenomena supporting the
satellite observations. Sheath is a nonlinear phenomenon
forms, as and when, charges are around a solid body shield-
ing the bulk plasma from it (Riemann 1991; Self 1963;
Chen 1984). The sheath separates the plasma from surface of
the body in contact wherein a strong localized electric field
generates between the plasma and negatively biased surface.
Study on sheath formation in plasma has been augmented
through the derivation of Sagdeev potential wave equation
(Sagdeev 1966), more commonly known as sheath equation.
Sheath has been studied expeditiously in context to various
physical aspects (some of them are reviewed by Riemann
(1991), Self (1963) and the references therein). In continu-
ation Das et al. (1999) derived the plasma sheath in plasma
to show salient features of electron absorbing wall and de-
scribed the effect of finite ion temperature as for the required
condition in forming sheath in plasmas. Further, theoreti-
cal developments on studying sheath have been done by the
incorporation of different effects like the presence of mag-
netic field (Baishya and Das 2003), ionization (Das and Devi
2006) and collision effect (Baishya et al. 2000). While Liu et
al. (2003), Lei et al. (2006), Alterkop (2004) and other work-
ers have shown the experimental evidences on the formation
of plasma sheath so as to alleviate the uneven competition
between theory and experiments.
During the last few years the studies on sheath prop-
erties in plasmas contaminated by the presence of dust
grains has been receiving much attention too because of
its findings and common occurrences in laboratory (Sel-
wyn et al. 1990) and space plasmas (Mendis and Rosen-
berg 1993). Apart from laboratory experiments on dust in-
filtrated plasma, much development have been done in this

context, to study the role of dust in various space environ-
ments such as Moons atmosphere, Saturns ring and mag-
netosphere. Nitter and Havnes (1992) have done pioneer-
ing work in finding the dynamics of levitated dust particle
into sheath formed above astronomical bodies like Moon
and Asteroids. This is followed by the interest to extend the
study in magnetized plasma contaminated by dust charge
grains (Baishya and Das 2003; Das and Kalita 2004). Be-
cause of dust charged grains in plasma, a new mode called
dust acoustic mode (DAW) (Rao et al. 1990) can be found
in nonlinear plasma-acoustic wave dynamics which has been
confirmed latter by the experimental studies of Barkan et al.
(1995). Recently Gao and Tian (2006a, 2006b), Tian and
Gao (2005) have yielded the effectiveness of dust grains in
the formation of stable dust atmosphere in various region in
space. The dust grains immersed in ambient plasmas lead to
electric charging by various processes, and play a fascinat-
ing role in altering the plasma sheath properties in spaces
(Goertz and Ip 1984; Northrop 1992; DeAngeles 1992).
Satellite observations have shown that active dust transport
in the solar system include: dust grains suspended above the
lunar surface, spokes in Saturns rings, and recent images
of dust-filled craters from the NEAR spacecraft at Eros. In
each case, it has been suggested that dust transport is caused
by interaction between charged dust particles and electric
field near the surface. Furthermore, electrostatic dust lev-
itation and transport have been theorized to occur on Mer-
cury, asteroids and comets as well as on the Moons surfaces
(Mendis et al. 1981; Rennilson and Criswell 1974) which
are thought earlier to be with a pristine environment of neg-
ligible atmosphere or exosphere. A dust sensor placed on the
Moon by the Apollo 17 astronauts detected moving dust
above the surface (Berg et al. 1976; Severnyi et al. 1975;
Nitter et al. 1998) which could have serious implications for
astronomical observations from the lunar surface.
Based on Chandrasekhars proposal (Chandrasekhar
1953) on the role of Coriolis force in cosmic physics to
be effective in slow rotating stars, many workers have stud-
ied, in continuation, the nature of wave propagation in ro-
tating space plasmas. Lehnert (1954a, 1954b), in studying
the Alfven waves, found that the Coriolis force plays a dom-
inant role on low frequency Alfven waves leading to the
explanation of solar sunspot cycle. Latter, from the theoreti-
cal point of view, linear wave propagation has been studied
in plasmas to show the interaction of Coriolis force (Uberoi
and Das 1970), which led to the useful inference that ro-
tation, however small might be taken appropriate consid-
eration otherwise derived results will be erroneous. Again,
Mamun (1994) has shown the different nature of small am-
plitude waves generated in high rotating neutron stars or
pulsar. Das and Nag (2007) studied the small amplitude
soliton dynamics in rotating plasma and showed that the
Coriolis force results in explosion or collapse in soliton dy-
namics along with the formation of a narrow wave packet
Astrophys Space Sci
with high energy generation, and density depression therein
causes the phenomena of soliton radiation. Later, Moslem et
al. (2009) regard such observations convincingly in pulsar
magnetosphere showing soliton collapses by the interaction
of rotation, and thus discussed that rotation could be of in-
terest in many astrophysical environments.
Based on all these observations, our present study has
been motivated to investigate the formation and changes of
coherent structure of sheath in slow rotating astroplasma.
Our main aim is to evaluate the formation of sheath along
with the changes on sheath due to presence of rotational ef-
fect and thereafter the dynamics of a dust levitated into the
sheath have been studied to estimate the different charac-
teristic behaviors of the dust particle, like dust potential at
different places in sheath along with the estimation of dust
size and the net force generated on it. By the use of appro-
priate symbolic data for the levitated dust, interest has been
focused to study the possible features on the formation of
nebulonsa stable cloud of dust in space. In Sect. 2 the
sheath equation in rotating plasma has been derived and the
numerical discussions regarding the sheath are carried out in
Sect. 3. Finally, the characteristic behavior of stationary dust
charged grain into the sheath has been derived in Sect. 4 and
considering the numerical data of the Moon graphical pre-
sentation have been discussed expeditiously to support the
analytical developments in Sect. 5.
2 Basic equations and derivation of sheath equation in
rotating plasma
To study the coherent structures of sheath in spaces, we have
considered simple plasma consisting of isothermal electrons
and ions under the broad assumption Te  Ti . The plasma
acoustic wave propagation, without loss of generality, has
been taken unidirectional (taken along x-direction). Here
plasma is rotating with a uniform angular velocity  around
an axis in xz plane inclined at an angle with the propaga-
tion direction. Further, because of rotation plasma medium
influences two forces, namely, centrifugal force and Cori-
olis force. Centrifugal force is being neglected not only for
mathematical simplicity but for studying the effect of Corio-
lis force in isolation in wave dynamics in space. Centrifugal
force is generally neglected (Chandrashekar 1953) in studies
of astroplasma dynamics, and such neglect is being partly
justified for many celestial bodies under the influence of
slow rotation.
The basic equations, governing the plasma dynamics,
are the equation of continuity and motion. Thus the equa-
tions, with respect to a rotating frame of reference following
Uberoi and Das (1970), are written in normalized form as
n
+ .(n v ) = 0, (1)
t
Astrophys Space Sci
 
v E q vx vx 
+ v (.v ) = q + {v H } (2) M + vx = + vy sin , (10)
t m m
where the subscript = i, e represents respectively for ions vy vy
and electrons. M + vx = (vz cos vx sin ), (11)

(H = H0 +2m /q ) is the totality of ambient magnetic
field H0 and along with the effect of Coriolis force. m is vz vz
M + vx = vy cos (12)
the mass of the -charge moving with velocity v , having
density n , and q is the charge. Because of Te  Ti and
for the sake of simplicity we neglect the inertial effect of the Now integrating equations once, with the use of appropri-
electrons and because of which, the motion of electrons is ate boundary conditions at as vx,y,z = 0,  = 0,
expressed by the Boltzmann relation as / = 0 and n 1. Equation (9) evaluates vx as
 
ne = exp() (3) 1
vx = M 1 (13)
n
where ne = n /n0 is the normalized electron density and
 = e/kTe is the normalized electrostatic potential, k is The substitution of vx into (10) and (11) gives
the Boltzmannian constant and n0 is the equilibrium plasma
 
density. All other symbols have their usual meanings. 1 M 2 dn d
The motion of the ions for unidirectional propagation vy = sin 1 3 (14)
n d d
along x-direction is simplified by the following normalized
equations. dv y n
= (n 1) sin vz cos (15)
n nvx d M
+ = 0, (4)
t x Again use of vy in (12) evaluates vz as
vx
+ vx
vx
=

+ vy sin , (5)     
1 cot
t x x vz = M cot 1 + nd (16)
n M 0
vy vy
+ vx = (vz cos vx sin ), (6)
t x We, substituting (14) and (16) into (15), obtain the modified
vz vz form of Sagdeev potential equation as
+ vx = vy cos (7)
t x   
 n2 cos2 
where the normalized parameters are defined as n = n i /n0 , A(n) = 2 (n 1) nd
M2 0
vx,y,z = (vi )x,y,z /Cs , Cs = (kTe /mi )1/2 , t = tci , x =

x/, = Cs /ci , ci = eH /mi and = 2/ci . ci , where A(n) = 1
M 2 dn
(17)
and Cs respectively denote the ion gyro-frequency, gyro ra- n3 d
dius and ion acoustic speed. Further we assume unmagne-
which could be simplified to Sagdeev potential equation (or
tized plasma i.e. H0 = 0 with a view to study the sheath
sheath equation) for simple configuration of plasma.
formation under the effect of Coriolis force in isolation.
Multiplying both sides of (17) with A(n) and thereafter,
The above equations are supplemented by Poisson equa-
integrating once again in the limit  = 0 to , we get
tion relating the potential  to the mobility of the charged
species as  
1  2
  A(n)
2d 2  2 
= ne n (8) 

2 x 2 n2 cos2 
= A(n) (n 1)
2
nd (18)
where d = ( n0 kT e 1/2
is the Debye length. M2
2 )
0
0e
In order to find the formation of sheath as similar to This is the desired equation for studying nonlinear waves as
earlier derivation of modified Sagdeev potential-like equa- to derive the sheath formation along with different acoustic
tion, we introduce a suitable Galilean transformation as
mode in plasmas. But due to the presence of A(n), which
= x Mt, where M is the velocity of the moving frame.
is a function of plasma constituent, solution of (18), by ana-
By using the transformation, basic (4)(7) are reduced to the
lytic method fails for studying the wave equation, like soli-
following ordinary differential equations
tons and double layers. To get the desired observations that
n nvx too related to astrophysical problems, a crucial approxima-
M + = 0, (9)
t tion of having small amplitude wave with the quasineutrality
 Astrophys Space Sci

condition in plasmas has been made for the sake of mathe-

matical simplicity. This condition is based on the assump-
tion that the electron Debye length is much smaller than the
ion gyro radius and lead to assume the ion density (Das and
Kalita 2004) as

n = exp() (19)

and consequently A(n) takes explicitly the following form

A(n) = 1 M 2 exp(2) (20)

Now substituting (19) and (20) into (18), desired sheath

equation has then been derived in the following form
Fig. 1 Variation of sheath potential  as a function of distance from
 2 the surface for M = 1.1, = 0.1 for different = 10 , 45
1 d
A(n)2
2 d
 3 Numerical results and discussions
BF ()2
= 2 F () 
2 Sheath equation, with use of wall potential as an initial


1 BF () 1 1 boundary condition, has been solved numerically for find-
+ M B +
2
(21) ing the potential variation, and thereby critically analyze the
F  () 2F  ()2 2
sheath thickness variation (shown in Figs. 13). With the
with variation of some typical plasma parameters to plot elec-
trostatic potential  as a function of normalized distance
V (, M, ) from the wall, angle of inclination is varied from = 10 to
 90 for chosen angular velocity = 0.1 along with variation
BF ()2
= F () 
2 of Mach number M. Figure 1 shows the variation of sheath
2 potential with rotational effect incorporated through differ-


1 BF () 1 1 ent values of and yield the shrunken of sheath thickness
+ M 2 B + (22)
F  () 2F  ()2 2 with increasing , indicating the interactive effect of rotation
on sheath formation. It is because of the increase in rotation
 2
for which the ions suffer a higher m (v ) drag towards
where F () = 0 nd, F  () = n, B = cos M2
are used.
This is the final modified form of nonlinear wave equa- the wall and thereby reduce the sheath thickness. On the
tion, more precisely regarded as the sheath equation, and other hand as decreases the effect of the Coriolis force be-
consequently solved numerically to study the properties of comes weak which results in comparatively large (of the or-
sheath formation in slow rotating plasma medium. der of 100 times the ion gyro-radius ) sheath thickness, due
to which prominent clustering with more dust grains inside
The computational procedure followed the fourth order
the sheath region is likely to form a robust dust atmosphere,
Runge-Kutta method with appropriate input of numeric re-
what exactly might be the explanation to the observation of
lated to astroplasmas. Further, to find the sheath thickness,
dust cloud around the Moon. Observations on Earths Moon
initial boundary condition as wall potential w (at = 0) re-
during the Apollo era of explorations evidenced the Debye
quires to be found. The wall potential has been calculated by
sheath on Moon extends up to 1 km in altitude (Halekas et
using a conceptual assumption (Mitchner and Kruger 1973)
al. 2003) and rely on bridging the present theoretical obser-
by noting that the velocity of Boltzmannian species at the
vations.
wall is the first moment of a half Maxwellian distribution Figure 2 shows the schematic variation of sheath poten-
and ion flux is being conserved. The condition at wall de- tial for different angular velocity (  1, 1) plotted for
rives Mach number, M = 1.1 and angle of rotation, = 45 . The
  sheath width has the reducing tendency with the increase of
ew kT e , and might be vanishing for higher rotation i.e. for 1,
no vio = no exp (23)
kT e 2me and in order to get a prominent sheath, is taken equal to 0.1
i.e. the case  1, which signifies slow rotation. Totality on
from which wall potential w has been evaluated. the variation of sheath thickness decreases with the increase
Astrophys Space Sci

thus the interest follows in this section to know the char-

acteristic behavior of dust grains, as and when levitated
into estimated sheath. We, without any loss of generality,
assume a spherical dust particle of radius a  d . When
a dust particle enters into the sheath region, continuous
generation of electron and ion currents has been found to
be collected by the dust grain and causes the variation
on dust charge. Accordingly the charge Qd follows the
charging equation following probe theory (Bouchoule 1999;
Devi et al. 2007) as
dQd
= Ie + Ii (24)
dt
where Ie and Ii are respectively currents to the grain gener-
Fig. 2 Variation of sheath potential  as a function of distance
from the surface for M = 1.1, = 45 for different angular velocity
ated by electrons and ions, and are given by the following
= 0.01, 0.1, 1 expression.
 
KTe 1/2
Ie = 4a no e
2
exp( + Vd ) for Vd 0
2me
(25)
 1/2  
KTe 2Vd
Ii = a 2 no eM 1 2 (26)
mi M 2
where Vd = (eUd /kTe ) is normalized dust surface potential
defined as Vd = d  with d as the normalized absolute
dust potential. The charging equation is valid under the con-
dition a  d and followed Orbit-Motion Limited (OML)
theory as well. This limit is satisfied by most of astrophysi-
cal and laboratory plasmas.
Based on charge equilibrium condition, dust surface po-
tential can be obtained from
Fig. 3 Variation of sheath potential  as a function of distance Ie + Ii 0 (27)
from the surface for = 0.1, = 45 for different Mach numbers
M = 1.11.5 Considering the dust to be equivalent to a spherical capac-
itor, we derive a relation between the dust charge and its
of or , as the force due to rotation Fcor increases as the surface potential as
angular velocity forces the ions to move towards the surface  
of the wall. Qd
Vd = (28)
Finally interest grows to know the features of sheath with 4o a(KTe /e)
the variation of Mach number, and the results have been Now a dust particle of given charge Qd inside the sheath
plotted in Fig. 3 for different Mach number ranging from experiences both electric and gravitational forces and hence
1.1 to 1.6. The variations highlight that sheath thickness de- the net force equation for dust grain levitated into the sheath
creases with the increase in Mach number. Thus graphical can be written as
presentation conclude that the plasma parameters such as  2   
rotation angle, rotational frequency, Mach number are nec- d x d
F = md = 4 0 aVd md g (29)
essary to be controlled to get the prominent sheath around dt 2 d
the surface of a solid body immersed in plasma medium.
which has been modified as
 2 
d x
4 Characteristic behaviour of levitated dust charged F = md Cs wci
dt 2
grains into the sheath        
kTe 2 d 4
= 40 Cs Vd a 3 d g
Satellite observations (Halekas et al. 2003) revealed the e Cs d 3
prominent picture of dust flow over the Moon surface and (30)
 Astrophys Space Sci

Fig. 5 Variation of size of dust particle in plasma sheath for differ-

Fig. 4 Variation of sheath potential and relating to the variation within ent M = 1.1, 1.5. Other plasma parameters are = 0.1, = 45 ,
sheath region. The chosen plasma parameters are M = 1.5, = 0.1, n = 50 eV, M = 3.326 103 kg/m3 (for Moon), and d = 1000 kg/m3
and = 45

where md is the mass and d is the density of dust par-

ticle. The radius R of the solid body is much larger than
the Debye length which enables to assume the gravita-
tional acceleration g is constant within the thin layer of
sheath. However, for brevity of numerical estimation, we
have considered the solid body to be Moon, and thereby
chosen the typical parameters of radius R = 1740 km, and
density m = 3.326 103 kg m3 along with dust density
d = 1000 kg m3 , kTe = 50 eV and plasma density is
n0 = 5 106 m3 . Now condition for stable equilibrium
yields net force, F = 0 which enables to derive radius abal
as

       
kTe 2 d d values of = 10 , 45 . Other parameters are same as in Fig. 5
abal = 30 Cs Vd / (31)
e Cs d g
5 Numerical results and discussion
Equation (27) derives from the charging equation of dust
particle at equilibrium, which enables us to determine the
dust surface potential as a function of plasma potential and
thus varies in the sheath. Figure 4 shows the variation of
relative plasma potential  and dust potential d for the
typical value of M = 1.5 along with rotation signified by
angular velocity = 0.1ci 1000 m/s.
The radius of the stable dust particle abal where F = 0,
(i.e. at equilibrium inside the sheath) has been estimated
for different values of M = 1.1, 1.5, and plotted (in Fig. 5)
the variation at different region within the sheath. The fig-
ure shows that dust particles of relatively small size ranging
from (0.21.5) nm are expected to be stable near surface
and accumulation of higher sizes are shown up to certain
distance and thereafter, thinner sizes are in stable at the sur-
face of the sheath. Similar observations are found by varying
Fig. 6 Variation of size of dust particle in plasma sheath for different
the magnitude of in Fig. 6, which describes the impact of
rotation on dust size variation inside the sheath region.
A stationary charged dust particle in the sheath experi-
ences both electric and gravitational forces. We have con-
sidered g to be a constant parameter, but since rotation af-
fects the sheath, the electric force experienced by a charged
dust particle is expected to change with the variation of rota-
tional parameters e.g. angular velocity and rotational an-
gle . Thus the dynamical behavior of dust particles levi-
tated inside the sheath is estimated by plotting the net force
in (30) with the variation of position, and the variation for
different values of dust sizes, rotation angle and variation in
Mach number shown in Figs. 79. The variation of the net
force acting with various dust sizes of radius, a ranging from
(11.4) nm has been shown in Fig. 7. The figure shows that,
at a particular position inside the sheath, dust particles of
smaller sizes (a < 1.3 nm) are held stationary by the balance
of electric and gravitational forces. The totality on the varia-
tion changes with the formation of sheath thickness affected
by the rotation and consequently other parameters influence
Astrophys Space Sci
Fig. 7 The net force on a stationary dust particle in plasma sheath
for different dust size. The plasma is rotating with angular velocity
= 0.1ci i.e. 1 km/s and M = 1.1 and = 45
Fig. 8 The net force on a stationary dust particle in plasma sheath
for rotation angle = 10 , 45 , 70 and abal = 1.3 nm, M = 1.1 and
= 0.1ci i.e. 1 km/s
Fig. 9 The net force on a stationary dust particle in plasma sheath for
varying Mach number M = 1.1, 1.5, 2 and abal = 1.3 nm, M = 1.1,
= 0.1ci i.e. 1 km/s and = 45
the dynamics of dust within the sheath. Rotational effect and
Mach number play the main role for finding the interest on
the stable dust grains and thus of clustering of dust grains.
Further Fig. 8 shows that the dust grain of size a = 1.3 nm
has two balancing position for higher rotation ( = 70 ), and
is balanced nearly at = 45 whereas for = 10 , it is com-
pletely unstable and falls on the surface of the solid body
under the action of gravity. Again Fig. 9 shows more pre-
cisely the effect by the variation of Mach numbers on net
force acting on dust grain of size a = 1.3 nm. The stability
of dust grains means here that whether the grain will sink
or float which is fully dependent on the net force acting on
dust grain. Again the forces on dust depend on the potential
and gravitational forces on it. The former force increases
or decreases depending on rotation, Mach number and con-
sequently for F > or < 0 showing respectively floating or
sinking of the dust grains. Therefore variation in net force
influences the presence of different dust sizes to be in equi-
librium at different position within the sheath, thereby form-
ing a dust atmosphere.
6 Conclusion
Emerging from the present study on the formation and char-
acteristic behavior of the sheath in simple rotating plasma
finds that the Coriolis force plays an effective role in the
dynamical system and without which the concluding results
likely to be erroneous. Thus special attention has been given
to the problems with slow rotating plasmas with the view to
relate the observations with astrophysical problems. After
evaluation of convincing properties of sheath, i.e. the vari-
ation of sheath thickness and potentials with Mach num-
ber, Coriolis force yields more effectiveness in shrinking
the sheath thickness leading to the case of non-visibility of
sheath formation in high rotating celestial body. Thus the
slow rotating solid body yields the sheath. Investigations
have been furthered to know the dynamics of dust grain in-
jected in sheath. To support the investigations, some typi-
cal plasma parameters of Moon have been taken and results
derived that different dust grains will be stable in different
places within the sheath. As a result of which there will be
enormous dust grains clustering within the sheath and nebu-
lons: the mixture of dust grains and gas are likely to form.
Thorough studies yield that as and when the axis of ro-
tation is almost parallel to the propagation direction, the
sheath thickness increases, whereas, for increasing angle of
rotation, the sheath thickness shows a gradual merging to-
wards the wall. Same conclusion can be drawn from vari-
ation of angular velocity and Mach number. This distinc-
tive phenomenon thereby justifies the importance of taking
the slow rotation, because of which the widen sheath is able
to sustain more dust grains around a solid body. The equi-
librium dust size has been calculated for Moons parame-
ters as (11.4) nm, and the total force generating from the
balance of potential with gravitational forces is negligibly
small. This enables us to conclude the dust grains could sus-
tain in different places in sheath. The magnitude of net force
on dust grain whether positive or negative, results in natural
behavior of floating or sinking and finally could be stable,
i.e. F 0 at different positions in sheath. The net force vari-
ation shows that particles of varying sizes are acted upon by

varying forces, and particles of sizes in the range of (11.4)
nm can sustain equilibrium in sheath. Also the net force vari-
ation on a particular dust particle of size a = 1.3 nm depends
critically on rotation and Mach number and discussed thor-
oughly. Again the net force for different rotation finds to be
either positive or negative. In the region where dF n/d is
negative, the particles will be suspended or oscillating about
a stable position. But for the case of dF n/d is positive
sheath region will be devoid of such dust particles. Our ob-
servations shows that slow rotating celestial body generates
comparatively bigger sheath and thus collect large number
of dust particles of smaller sizes, thereby forming a dust
atmosphere around the surface of the Moon. Further it has
been observed that the heavier dust grains will be stable near
the surface of the solid body whereas finer dust grains will
be clustering away from the surface. Finally, it can be con-
cluded that the rotation of the body governs the formation of
nebulons, i.e. cloud of dust, and we are convinced that such
observations might be of interest for further advance stud-
ies in astroplasma problems, as for finding nature of dust
atmospheres around Moons surface, interplanetary spaces,
Milky Way, Saturns ring which are yet to be known.
Acknowledgements Authors gratefully acknowledge the financial
support from Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) under ISRO-
RESPOND Research Program, India (Project No. ISRO/RES/2/352/08-
09). RC would like to thank Dr. S.K. Baishya, Cotton College, Guwa-
hati for discussions in various stages of the paper. We also thank the
Referees for their comments and suggestions in bringing this paper in
present form.
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