Infrared spectra of material captured from comet 81P/Wild 2 by the Stardust spacecraft reveal indigenous aliphatic hydrocarbons similar to those in interplanetary dust particles thought to be derived from comets, but with longer chain lengths than those observed in the diffuse interstellar medium. Similarly, the Stardust samples contain abundant amorphous silicates in addition to crystalline silicates such as olivine and pyroxene. The presence of crystalline silicates in Wild 2 is consistent with mixing of solar system and interstellar matter. No hydrous silicates or carbonate minerals were detected, which suggests a lack of aqueous processing of Wild 2 dust.
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Correlated isotopic and chemical evidence for condensation origins of olivine in comet 81P/Wild 2 and in AOAs from CV and CO chondrites.
Geochim Cosmochim Acta
January 2021
WiscSIMS, Department of Geoscience, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA.
Magnesium stable isotope ratios and minor element abundances of five olivine particles from comet 81P/Wild 2 were examined by secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS). Wild 2 olivine particles exhibit only small variations in δMg values from -1.0 / ‰ to 0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFine-grained Material Associated with a Large Sulfide returned from Comet 81P/Wild 2.
Meteorit Planet Sci
May 2019
Dept. Astro. and Planet. Sci., University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309.
In a consortium analysis of a large particle captured from the coma of comet 81P/Wild 2 by the Stardust spacecraft, we report the discovery of a field of fine-grained material (FGM) in contact with a large sulfide particle. The FGM was partially located in an embayment in the sulfide. As a consequence, some of the FGM appears to have been protected from damage during hypervelocity capture in aerogel.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFComparison of GEMS in Interplanetary Dust Particles and GEMS-like Objects in a Stardust Impact Track in Aerogel.
Meteorit Planet Sci
January 2019
Hawai'i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA.
Comet 81P/Wild 2 dust, the first comet sample of known provenance, was widely expected to resemble anhydrous chondritic porous (CP) interplanetary dust particles (IDPs). GEMS, distinctly characteristic of CP IDPs, have yet to be unambiguously identified in the Stardust mission samples despite claims of likely candidates. One such candidate is Stardust impact track 57 "Febo" in aerogel, which contains fine-grained objects texturally and compositionally similar to GEMS.
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Space Sciences Laboratory, U.C. Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720-7450 USA.
This review presents our understanding of cometary dust at the end of 2017. For decades, insight about the dust ejected by nuclei of comets had stemmed from remote observations from Earth or Earth's orbit, and from flybys, including the samples of dust returned to Earth for laboratory studies by the Stardust return capsule. The long-duration Rosetta mission has recently provided a huge and unique amount of data, obtained using numerous instruments, including innovative dust instruments, over a wide range of distances from the Sun and from the nucleus.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOrigin of crystalline silicates from Comet 81P/Wild 2: Combined study on their oxygen isotopes and mineral chemistry.
Earth Planet Sci Lett
May 2017
WiscSIMS, Department of Geoscience, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA.
In order to explore the link between comet 81P/Wild 2 and materials in primitive meteorites, seven particles 5 to 15 μm in diameter from comet 81P/Wild 2 have been analyzed for their oxygen isotope ratios using a secondary ion mass spectrometer. Most particles are single minerals consisting of olivine or pyroxene with Mg# higher than 85, which are relatively minor in 81P/Wild 2 particles (~1/3 of the O-poor cluster). Four particles extracted from Track 149 are O-poor and show ΔO (= δO - 0.
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