Noble gas space exposure ages of individual interplanetary dust particles

Abstract— The He, Ne, and Ar compositions of 32 individual interplanetary dust particles (IDPs) were measured using low‐blank laser probe gas extraction. These measurements reveal definitive evidence of space exposure. The Ne and Ar isotopic compositions in the IDPs are primarily a mixture between solar wind (SW) and an isotopically heavier component dubbed “fractionated solar” (FS), which could be implantation‐fractionated solar wind or a distinct component of the solar corpuscular radiation previously identified as solar energetic particles (SEP). Space exposure ages based on the Ar content of individual IDPs are estimated for a subset of the grains that appear to have escaped significant volatile losses during atmosphere entry. Although model‐dependent, most of the particles in this subset have ages that are roughly consistent with origin in the asteroid belt. A short (<1000 years) space exposure age is inferred for one particle, which is suggestive of cometary origin. Among the subset of grains that show some evidence for relatively high atmospheric entry heating, two possess elevated ²¹Ne/²²Ne ratios generated by extended exposure to solar and galactic cosmic rays. The inferred cosmic ray exposure ages of these particles exceeds 10⁷ years, which tends to rule out origin in the asteroid belt. A favorable possibility is that these ²¹Ne‐rich IDPs previously resided on a relatively stable regolith of an Edgeworth‐Kuiper belt or Oort cloud body and were introduced into the inner solar system by cometary activity. These results demonstrate the utility of noble gas measurements in constraining models for the origins of interplanetary dust particles.     

Carbon in Meteoroids: Wild 2 Dust Analyses, IDPs and Cometary Dust Analogues

Assuming that similar organic components as in comet 81P/Wild 2 are present in incoming meteoroids, we try to anticipate the observable signatures they would produce for meteor detection techniques. In this analysis we consider the elemental and organic components in cometary aggregate interplanetary dust particles and laboratory analyses of inter- and circumstellar carbon dust analogues. On the basis of our analysis we submit that (semi) quantitative measurements of H, N and C produced during meteor ablation will open an entire new aspect to using meteoroids as tracers of these volatile element abundances in active comets and their contributions to the mesospheric metal layers.     

Laboratory set-up for studying ices at the MIR and FIR region

H₂O, CO and CO₂ ices are condensed on carbonaceous and silicate dust grains in dense interstellar clouds and circumstellar environments. The presence of these ices is inferred by analysing their infrared (IR) spectra. The upcoming Herschel space observatory (HERSCHEL) and ground-based astronomy project (ALMA) will provide new spectral data in the unexplored far infrared (FIR) and sub-millimetre range. In our laboratory we are developing instrumentation to study ices at IR region. One of the key components of our laboratory is a silicon composite bolometer in our IFS. This detector allows us to obtain spectra with a sensitivity much greater than that obtained with a standard deuterated triglycine sulphate (DTGS) detector working at room temperature and under vacuum conditions. We plan to collect mid infrared (MIR) and FIR spectra of simple ices and their mixtures and compare these with observational data. It is also planned to do a systematic laboratory study of the effects that ultraviolet (UV) photolysis and thermal annealing have on the ice band profiles and their structure.     

Laboratory analogues to cosmic dust

A pulsed laser has been used to vaporize olivine, pyroxene, nickel-iron alloy, Al₂O₃, carbon, calcium carbonate, and silicon carbide, as well as mixtures of immiscible phases (Au–Al₂O₃ and Au-olivine) in oxidizing, reducing, and inert atmospheres. The collected condensates usually consist of strings of grains which have a median diameter of 20–30 nm, which is comparable to the calculated sizes of some interstellar and circumstellar dust grains. The silicate minerals vaporized in O₂ as well as calcium carbonate and carbon vaporized in Ar or H₂, are collected as glassy grains while the other materials produced crystalline grains. The systems of immiscible phases when vaporized produced condensates consisting of intermixed 2–50 nm grains of both components. The type of size distribution, crystal structures, and qualitiative elemental analyses of the condensates are given. Possible similarities between the mechanism of grain growth, structure, morphology, and chemistry of laboratory grains compared to interstellar and circumstellar grains, phases in meteorites and extraterrestrial dust collected in the stratosphere are examined. Applications of the experimental technique include the production of grain systems to serve as laboratory analogues for spectral studies of grain materials believed to exist in astronomical environments, and studies of the structure of grains condensed from complex gas mixtures.Paper presented at the Conference on Protostars and Planets, held at the Planetary Science Institute, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, between January 3 and 7, 1978.     

Connection between micrometeorites and Wild 2 particles: From Antarctic snow to cometary ices

Abstract— We discuss the relationship between large cosmic dust that represents the main source of extraterrestrial matter presently accreted by the Earth and samples from comet 81P/Wild 2 returned by the Stardust mission in January 2006. Prior examinations of the Stardust samples have shown that Wild 2 cometary dust particles contain a large diversity of components, formed at various heliocentric distances. These analyses suggest large‐scale radial mixing mechanism(s) in the early solar nebula and the existence of a continuum between primitive asteroidal and cometary matter. The recent collection of CONCORDIA Antarctic micrometeorites recovered from ultra‐clean snow close to Dome C provides the most unbiased collection of large cosmic dust available for analyses in the laboratory. Many similarities can be found between Antarctic micrometeorites and Wild 2 samples, in terms of chemical, mineralogical, and isotopic compositions, and in the structure and composition of their carbonaceous matter. Cosmic dust in the form of CONCORDIA Antarctic micrometeorites and primitive IDPs are preferred samples to study the asteroid‐comet continuum.     

Interpretation of Wild 2 dust fine structure: Comparison of Stardust aluminum foil craters to the three‐dimensional shape of experimental impacts by artificial aggregate particles and meteorite powders

Abstract— New experimental results show that Stardust crater morphology is consistent with interpretation of many larger Wild 2 dust grains being aggregates, albeit most of low porosity and therefore relatively high density. The majority of large Stardust grains (i.e. those carrying most of the cometary dust mass) probably had density of 2.4 g cm^?3 (similar to soda‐lime glass used in earlier calibration experiments) or greater, and porosity of 25% or less, akin to consolidated carbonaceous chondrite meteorites, and much lower than the 80% suggested for fractal dust aggregates. Although better size calibration is required for interpretation of the very smallest impacting grains, we suggest that aggregates could have dense components dominated by μm‐scale and smaller sub‐grains. If porosity of the Wild 2 nucleus is high, with similar bulk density to other comets, much of the pore space may be at a scale of tens of micrometers, between coarser, denser grains. Successful demonstration of aggregate projectile impacts in the laboratory now opens the possibility of experiments to further constrain the conditions for creation of bulbous (Type C) tracks in aerogel, which we have observed in recent shots. We are also using mixed mineral aggregates to document differential survival of pristine composition and crystalline structure in diverse finegrained components of aggregate cometary dust analogues, impacted onto both foil and aerogel under Stardust encounter conditions.     

Analytical scanning and transmission electron microscopy of laboratory impacts on Stardust aluminum foils: Interpreting impact crater morphology and the composition of impact residues

Abstract— The known encounter velocity (6.1 kms^?1) and particle incidence angle (perpendicular) between the Stardust spacecraft and the dust emanating from the nucleus of comet Wild‐2 fall within a range that allows simulation in laboratory light‐gas gun (LGG) experiments designed to validate analytical methods for the interpretation of dust impacts on the aluminum foil components of the Stardust collector. Buckshot of a wide size, shape, and density range of mineral, glass, polymer, and metal grains, have been fired to impact perpendicularly on samples of Stardust Al 1100 foil, tightly wrapped onto aluminum alloy plate as an analogue of foil on the spacecraft collector. We have not yet been able to produce laboratory impacts by projectiles with weak and porous aggregate structure, as may occur in some cometary dust grains. In this report we present information on crater gross morphology and its dependence on particle size and density, the pre‐existing major‐ and trace‐element composition of the foil, geometrical issues for energy dispersive X‐ray analysis of the impact residues in scanning electron microscopes, and the modification of dust chemical composition during creation of impact craters as revealed by analytical transmission electron microscopy. Together, these observations help to underpin the interpretation of size, density, and composition for particles impacted on the Stardust aluminum foils.     

Interrelationships among meteoric metals,meteors, interplanetary dust,micrometeorites, and meteorites

Abstract— Meteor science, aeronomy, and meteoritics are different disciplines with natural interfaces. This paper is an effort to integrate the chemistry and mineralogy of collected interplanetary dust particles (IDPs), micrometeorites, and meteorites with meteoric data and with atmospheric metal abundances. Evaporation, ablation, and melting of decelerating materials in the Earth's atmosphere are the sources of the observed metal abundances in the upper atmosphere. Many variables ultimately produce the materials and phenomena we can analyze, such as different accretion and parent‐body histories of incoming extraterrestrial materials, different interactions of meteors with the Earth's middle atmosphere, meteor data reduction, and complex chemical interactions of the metals and ions with the ambient atmosphere. The IDP‐like and unequilibrated ordinary chondrite matrix materials are reasonable sources for observed meteoric and atmospheric metals. The hypothesis of hierarchical dust accretion predicts that low, correlated refractory element abundances in cometary meteors may be real. It implies that the CI or cosmic standard is not useful to appreciate the chemistry of incoming petrologically heterogeneous cometary matter. The quasi steady‐state metal abundances in the lower thermosphere and upper mesosphere are derived predominantly from materials with cometary orbital characteristics and velocities such as comets proper and near‐Earth asteroids. The exact influence of atmospheric chemistry on these abundances still needs further evaluation. Metal abundances in the lower mesosphere and upper stratosphere region are mostly from materials from the asteroidal belt and the Kuiper belt.     

Shergottites Dhofar 019, SaU 005, Shergotty,and Zagami: 40Ar‐39Ar chronology and trapped Martian atmospheric and interior argon

Abstract— We report a high‐resolution ⁴⁰Ar‐³⁹Ar study of mineral separates and whole‐rock samples of olivine‐phyric (Dhofar 019, Sayh al Uhaymir [SaU] 005) and basaltic (Shergotty, Zagami) shergottites. Excess argon is present in all samples. The highest (⁴⁰Ar/³⁶Ar)_trapped ratios are found for argon in pyroxene melt inclusions (?1500), maskelynite (?1200), impact glass (?1800) of Shergotty and impact glass of SaU 005 (?1200). A high (⁴⁰Ar/³⁶Ar)_trapped component‐usually uniquely ascribed to Martian atmosphere‐can also originate from the Martian interior, indicating a heterogeneous Martian mantle composition. As additional explanation of variable high (⁴⁰Ar/³⁶Ar)_trapped ratios in shocked shergottites, we suggest argon implantation from a “transient atmosphere” during impact induced degassing. The best ⁴⁰Ar‐³⁹Ar age estimate for Dhofar 019 is 642 ± 72 Ma (maskelynite). SaU 005 samples are between 700–900 Ma old. Relatively high ⁴⁰Ar‐³⁹Ar ages of melt inclusions within Dhofar 019 (1086 ± 252 Ma) and SaU 005 olivine (885 ± 66 Ma) could date entrapment of a magmatic liquid during early olivine crystallization, or reflect unrecognized excess ⁴⁰Ar components. The youngest ⁴⁰Ar‐³⁹Ar age of Shergotty separates (maskelynite) is ?370 Ma, that of Zagami is ?200 Ma. The ⁴⁰Ar‐³⁹Ar chronology of Dhofar 019 and SaU 005 indicate >1 Ga ages. Apparent ages uncorrected for trapped (e.g., Martian atmosphere, mantle) argon components approach 4.5 Ga, but are not caused by inherited ⁴⁰Ar, because excess ⁴⁰Ar is supported by ³⁶Ar_trapped. Young ages obtained by ⁴⁰Ar‐³⁹Ar and other chronometers argue for primary rather than secondary events. The cosmic ray exposure ages calculated from cosmogenic argon are 15.7 ± 0.7 Ma (Dhofar 019), 1.0–1.6 Ma (SaU 005), 2.1–2.5 Ma (Shergotty) and 2.2–3.0 Ma (Zagami).     

Low‐energy helium ion irradiation‐induced amorphization and chemical changes in olivine: Insights for silicate dust evolution in the interstellar medium

Abstract— We present the results of irradiation experiments aimed at understanding the structural and chemical evolution of silicate grains in the interstellar medium. A series of He+ irradiation experiments have been performed on ultra‐thin olivine, (Mg,Fe)₂SiO₄, samples having a high surface/volume (S/V) ratio, comparable to the expected S/V ratio of interstellar dust. The energies and fluences of the helium ions used in this study have been chosen to simulate the irradiation of interstellar dust grains in supernovae shock waves. The samples were mainly studied using analytical transmission electron microscopy. Our results show that olivine is amorphized by low‐energy ion irradiation. Changes in composition are also observed. In particular, irradiation leads to a decrease of the atomic ratios O/Si and Mg/Si as determined by x‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy and by x‐ray energy dispersive spectroscopy. This chemical evolution is due to the differential sputtering of atoms near the surfaces. We also observe a reduction process resulting in the formation of metallic iron. The use of very thin samples emphasizes the role of surface/volume ratio and thus the importance of the particle size in the irradiation‐induced effects. These results allow us to account qualitatively for the observed properties of interstellar grains in different environments, that is, at different stages of their evolution: chemical and structural evolution in the interstellar medium, from olivine to pyroxene‐type and from crystalline to amorphous silicates, porosity of cometary grains as well as the formation of metallic inclusions in silicates.     

Infrared spectroscopy of Wild 2 particle hypervelocity tracks in Stardust aerogel: Evidence for the presence of volatile organics in cometary dust

Abstract— Infrared spectroscopy maps of some tracks made by cometary dust from 81P/Wild 2 impacting Stardust aerogel reveal an interesting distribution of organic material. Out of six examined tracks, three show presence of volatile organic components possibly injected into the aerogel during particle impacts. When particle tracks contained volatile organic material, they were found to be ‐CH₂‐rich, while the aerogel is dominated by the ‐CH₃‐rich contaminant. It is clear that the population of cometary particles impacting the Stardust aerogel collectors also includes grains that contained little or none of this organic component. This observation is consistent with the highly heterogeneous nature of collected grains, as seen by a multitude of other analytical techniques.     

S.E.M.A.Ph.Or.E COMETAIRE,a tool for the study of the photochemical decomposition of probable large organic molecules in comets. first application: Polyoxymethylene

This paper presents a current experimental program concerning the study of the photochemical evolution of the organic matter ejected from the cometary nucleus. The aim of the work is to better understand, using laboratory simulations, the mechanisms which are involved in the degradation of the high molecular weight organics in cometary ices and dust when they are submitted to the warming up and to the bombardment of photons in the surrounding area of the Sun. This experimental study will establish correlations between the nucleus and the molecular composition of the coma. Furthermore, experimental data will provide useful information to bring to a close the question of the origin of the extended sources of H₂CO and CO. Polyoxymethylene, suspected to be present in the cometary nucleus, is often mentioned as a possible parent molecule for the extended source of H₂CO. In order to test this hypothesis, irradiation of POM has been performed at 147 nm. The preliminary results show effectively H₂CO as one photodegradation product as well as CO. C0₂ and HCOOH. Tentative detections of CH₃0CH₃, CH₃OCH₂OCH₃, CH₃OCHO and C₃H₆O₃ are also presented.     

Thermal processing and crystallization of amorphous Mg‐Ca silicates

The structural evolution of sol–gel‐produced amorphous Mg_(x)Ca_(1–x)SiO₃ silicates is investigated. Mid‐IR Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and synchrotron X‐ray diffraction are used to confirm the amorphous nature of the as‐prepared silicates, while subsequent in situ synchrotron X‐ray powder diffraction measurements are used to study the evolution of crystalline mineral phases as a function of annealing temperature. Multiple silicate phases, including diopside, enstatite, forsterite, and SiO₂, are identified, while Rietveld (i.e., structure) refinement of the diffraction data is used to quantify phase change relationships. Investigated as possible analogs for the refractory dust grain materials likely to have been present in the early solar nebula, the likely relevance of these investigations to the observed silicate compositions of chondritic meteorites and cometary bodies and the processing of their precursor materials is discussed.     

Spatial distribution of organic matter in the Bells CM2 chondrite using near‐field infrared microspectroscopy

Abstract– Distributions of organic functional groups as well as inorganic features were analyzed in the Bells (CM2) carbonaceous chondrite using near‐field infrared (NFIR) spectroscopy. NFIR spectroscopy has recently been developed to enable infrared spectral mapping beyond the optical diffraction limit of conventional Fourier transform infrared microspectroscopy. NFIR spectral mapping of the Bells 300 nm thick sections on Al plates for 7.5 × 7.5 μm² areas showed some C‐H‐rich areas which were considered to represent the organic‐rich areas. Heterogeneous distributions of organic matter as well as those of inorganic phases such as silicates (Si‐O) were observed with 1 μm spatial resolution. The NFIR mappings of aliphatic C‐H (2960 and 2930 cm^?1) and structural OH (3650 cm^?1) confirm that organic matter is associated with phyllosilicates as previously suggested. The NFIR mapping method can provide 1 μm spatial distribution of organic functional groups and their association with minerals. High local sensitivity of NFIR enables us to find organic‐rich areas and to characterize them by their aliphatic CH₂/CH₃ ratios. The aliphatic CH₂/CH₃ ratio of Bells is slightly higher than Murchison, similar to Orgueil, and lower than literature values of IDPs and cometary dust particles.     

Ultraviolet irradiation of naphthalene in H2O ice: Implications for meteorites and biogenesis

Abstract— The polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) naphthalene was exposed to ultraviolet radiation in H₂O ice under astrophysical conditions, and the products were analyzed using infrared spectroscopy and high‐performance liquid chromatography. As we found in our earlier studies on the photoprocessing of coronene in H₂O ice, aromatic alcohols and ketones (quinones) were formed. The regiochemistry of the reactions is described and leads to specific predictions of the relative abundances of various oxidized naphthalenes that should exist in meteorites if interstellar ice photochemistry influenced their aromatic inventory. Since oxidized PAHs are present in carbon‐rich meteorites and interplanetary dust particles (IDPs), and ubiquitous in and fundamental to biochemistry, the delivery of such extraterrestrial molecules to the early Earth may have played a role in the origin and evolution of life.     

39Ar‐40Ar “ages” and origin of excess 40Ar in Martian shergottites

Abstract— We report new ³⁹Ar‐⁴⁰Ar measurements on 15 plagioclase, pyroxene, and/or whole rock samples of 8 Martian shergottites. All age spectra suggest ages older than the meteorite formation ages, as defined by Sm‐Nd and Rb‐Sr isochrons. Employing isochron plots, only Los Angeles plagioclase and possibly Northwest Africa (NWA) 3171 plagioclase give ages in agreement with their formation ages. Isochrons for all shergottite samples reveal the presence of trapped Martian ⁴⁰Ar (⁴⁰Ar_xs), which exists in variable amounts in different lattice locations. Some ⁴⁰Ar_xs is uniformly distributed throughout the lattice, resulting in a positive isochron intercept, and other ⁴⁰Ar_xs occurs in association with K‐bearing minerals and increases the isochron slope. These samples demonstrate situations where linear Ar isochrons give false ages that are too old. After subtracting ⁴⁰Ar*that would accumulate by ⁴⁰K decay since meteorite formation and small amounts of terrestrial ⁴⁰Ar, all young age samples give similar ⁴⁰Ar_xs concentrations of ?1–2 × 10^?6cm³/g, but a variation in K content by a factor of ?80. Previously reported NASA Johnson Space Center data for Zagami, Shergotty, Yamato (Y‐) 000097, Y‐793605, and Queen Alexandra Range (QUE) 94201 shergottites show similar concentrations of ⁴⁰Ar_xs to the new meteorite data reported here. Similar ⁴⁰Ar_xs in different minerals and meteorites cannot be explained as arising from Martian atmosphere carried in strongly shocked phases such as melt veins. We invoke the explanation given by Bogard and Park (2008) for Zagami, that this ⁴⁰Ar_xs in shergottites was acquired from the magma. Similarity in ⁴⁰Ar_xs among shergottites may reveal common magma sources and/or similar magma generation and emplacement processes.     

The 4.6 micron feature of –SiH groups in silicate dust grains and infrared cometary spectra

Amorphous silicate dust grains have been produced in the laboratory by means of laser ablation of solid targets in different ambient atmospheres. In this work we show that, if the condensation occurs in the presence of hydrogen, the spectra of silicate grains, together with the characteristic 10 and 20 μm features, exhibit an absorption band around 4.6 μm. Such features, absent in the spectra of the same silicate grains produced in an oxygen atmosphere, may be attributed to a fundamental stretching vibration of –SiH functional groups bound into the grains or on their surface.Based on the cosmic abundance of the elements, silicates are expected to condense in the atmospheres of oxygen-rich stars where hydrogen is also abundant. This means that –SiH functional groups may be present also in the circumstellar and interstellar silicate dust grains. An absorption feature at 4.6 μm has already been observed in the absorbing dust of several protostellar embedded sources. The observation of a similar feature in comets can give important information on the origin and evolution of cometary material. © 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.     

Organic compound alteration during hypervelocity collection of carbonaceous materials in aerogel

Abstract— The NASA Stardust mission brought to Earth micron‐size particles from the coma of comet 81P/Wild 2 using aerogel, a porous silica material, as the capture medium. A major challenge in understanding the organic inventory of the returned comet dust is identifying, unambiguously, which organic molecules are indigenous to the cometary particles, which are produced from carbon contamination in the Stardust aerogel, and which are cometary organics that have been modified by heating during the particle capture process. Here it is shown that 1) alteration of cometary organic molecules along impact tracks in aerogel is highly dependent on the original particle morphology, and 2) organic molecules on test‐shot terminal particles are mostly preserved. These conclusions are based on two‐step laser mass spectrometry (L²MS) examinations of test shots with organic‐laden particles (both tracks in aerogel and the terminal particles themselves).     

Simulation of the Martian spectral radiance in the presence of atmospheric dust

The interest towards Mars is nowadays renewed as various satellites, already launched or foreseen for the future, will visit this planet, providing a new wealth of data. In particular, infrared spectroscopic observations need a parallel modelling effort for a proper interpretation of observations. The goal of our modelling is to evaluate the influence of a non negligible fraction of dust particles on intensity and profile of atmospheric Martian spectra. The joint effects of the atmosphere and the surface materials have been also accounted for. For the modelling, a version of the MODTRAN code, expressly modified for application to the Mars environment, has been used. As an example of the materials forming dust dispersed in the atmosphere and on the surface, we have considered andesite. Indices of refraction (n and k) of this material have been derived from laboratory measurements. The obtained results can have an important impact on the interpretation of infrared spectra that instruments such as TES (Thermal Emission Spectrometer), on board the Mars Global Surveyor, and PFS, in the Mars Express mission, will provide.     

Formaldehyde polymers in comets

The possibility that crystalline formaldehyde polymers are present in cometary dust is discussed. In common with most other parent molecules proposed for comets, (H₂CO) _n is difficult to detect, even if it is present in relatively high concentrations. The optical properties of these polymers in the visual and infrared regions are similar to those of silicate grains, and crystalline formaldehyde polymers provide no emission at 6 cm wavelength. The lifetime of gaseous H₂CO in the solar radiation field is too short, and the expected transitions in the microwave region would be too weak to be detected. However, the available data concerning the physical properties of comets indicate that polymerized formaldehyde cannot be ruled out as a major constituent of cometary material.