chondrites Archives - Page 2 of 2 - Astrobiology

Artist impression of solar system formation. Presolar grains are tiny, solid grains of primitive solar system material that originated before the formation of the Sun. They have been found in many places, including interplanetary dust, meteorites, and even samples from the comet Wild-2 that were returned to Earth by NASA's Stardust mission. Image credit: Gemini Observatory/AURA/Lynette Cook via NASA Astrobiology

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Status Report

Accretion of the Earliest Inner Solar System Planetesimals Beyond the Water-snowline

by Keith CowingSeptember 4, 2024September 4, 2024

How and where the first generation of inner solar system planetesimals formed remains poorly understood. Potential formation regions are the silicate condensation line and water-snowline of the solar protoplanetary disk.

An international team of researchers led by the University of Bern has used observation-based computer modelling to find an explanation for how macromolecules can form in a short time in disks of gas and dust around young stars. These findings could be crucial for understanding how habitability develops around different types of exoplanets and stars.

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Meteorites & Asteroids, Press Release

Astronomers Clarify How Organic Macromolecules Are Formed

by Keith CowingJuly 31, 2024July 31, 2024

An international team of researchers led by the University of Bern has used observation-based computer modelling to find an explanation for how macromolecules can form in a short time in […]

Schematic diagram of our preferred scenario. Red circles are planetesimals (and their fragments) from the terrestrial planet region. The black solid curves roughly denote the boundary of the current asteroid inner main belt. Eccentricity increases from bottom to top. Each panel shows the proposed evolution of the inner Solar System at different time ranges: (A) Formation and cooling of the EL planetesimal in the terrestrial planet region before 60 Myr after Solar System formation. In this period, the terrestrial planets began scattering planetesimals to orbits with high eccentricity and semimajor axes that correspond to the asteroid main belt. (B) Between 60 and 100 Myr, the EL planetesimal was destroyed by an impact in the terrestrial planet region. At least one fragment (the Athor family progenitor) was scattered by the terrestrial planets into the scattered disk, as in (A), then the giant planet instability implanted it into the inner main belt by decreasing its eccentricity. (C) A few tens of millions of years after the giant planet instability occurred, a giant impact between the planetary embryo Theia and proto-Earth formed the Moon. (D) The Athor family progenitor experienced another impact event that formed the Athor family at ~1500 Myr. -- Science

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Gas Giants, Meteorites & Asteroids, Press Release

Dating The Solar System’s Giant Planet Migration Using Chondrite Meteorites

by Keith CowingApril 16, 2024April 16, 2024

The period of orbital instability that led to the migration of the Solar System’s giant planets to their current orbit occurred between 60 and 100 million years after the beginning […]

The Koronis2 family is 7.5 My old from convergence of orbits. Convergence of the longitude of nodes ∆Ω was computed for 100 bodies and 20 clones for each body, in order to include the Yarkovsky effect. Top: a subset of a set of selected clones (colours). Bottom: the clones (gray), the median (violet), and the range (green) of ∆Ω distribution. The percentage of interlopers (removed) is up to 50 %, due to contamination from the neighbouring Karin family. The orbits exhibit a clear convergence at (7.5 ± 0.1) My. -- astro-ph.EP

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Impact events, Meteorites & Asteroids, Status Report

Young Asteroid Families As The Primary Source Of Meteorites

by Keith CowingMarch 20, 2024March 20, 2024

Understanding the origin of bright shooting stars and their meteorite samples is among the most ancient astronomy-related questions that at larger scales has human consequences [1-3].

Measured mineralogy (in terms of olivine-to-pyroxene ratio; ol/(ol+opx)) of 15 asteroids from the Massalia family (retrieved from a total of 21 individual spectra), compared to the mineralogy of ordinary chondrites (H, L, LL types) from RELAB. Average values are indicated at the top for each S-type family (families marked with an asterisk had their largest member removed before computing the average). Measurements of (20) Massalia are indicated in the plot (X). While this body lays between the peaks of the H-chondrite and L-chondrite distributions, other family members are clearly compatible with L chondrites. -- astro-ph.EP

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Comets and Asteroids, Impact events, Meteorites & Asteroids, Status Report

The Massalia Asteroid Family As The Origin Of Ordinary L Chondrites

by Keith CowingMarch 20, 2024March 20, 2024

Studies of micrometeorites in mid-Ordovician limestones and Earth’s impact craters indicate that our planet witnessed a massive infall of ordinary L chondrite material 466 million years (My) ago (Heck et […]

Carbon to silicon atom ratios in comets and other objects, from Woodward et al. (2021). -- astro-ph.EP

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Impact events, Meteorites & Asteroids, Missions & Hardware, Status Report

Comet 81P/Wild 2: A Record of the Solar System’s Wild Youth

by Keith CowingDecember 2, 2023December 2, 2023

NASA’s Stardust mission returned rocky material from the coma of comet 81P/Wild 2 (pronounced “Vilt 2”) to Earth for laboratory study on January 15, 2006. Comet Wild 2 contains volatile […]

Chondrites

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Astronomy & Telescopes, Comets and Asteroids, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release

Mid-Infrared Spectroscopy of Components in Chondrites: Search for Processed Materials in Young Solar Systems and Comets

by Keith CowingJanuary 2, 2023January 2, 2023

We obtained mid-infrared spectra of chondrules, matrix, CAIs and bulk material from primitive type 1-4 chondrites in order to compare them with the dust material in young, forming solar systems […]