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Full-Text Articles in Cosmochemistry
Hunting Starstuff: Searching For Calcium-Aluminum-Rich Inclusions In Cometary Dust, Christian Engelbrecht
Hunting Starstuff: Searching For Calcium-Aluminum-Rich Inclusions In Cometary Dust, Christian Engelbrecht
STAR Program Research Presentations
NASA’s Stardust mission (1999 - 2006) returned physical samples of the particles ejected by the comet 81P/Wild 2, collected in ultralight and extremely low density aerogel. These samples have been extensively analyzed using X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF), among other techniques, to determine the elemental, chemical and mineralogical composition of Wild 2. Because comets are thought to be formed in the icy outer regions of the solar system, billions of years ago, the Stardust data gives us details of the composition of the ancient solar system and its subsequent evolution. One of the surprises to come out of the data is the …
The Stardust Interstellar Dust Collector Crater Origins And Hypervelocity Cratering At Oblique Angles In Aluminum Foil, Harison Wiesman
The Stardust Interstellar Dust Collector Crater Origins And Hypervelocity Cratering At Oblique Angles In Aluminum Foil, Harison Wiesman
Undergraduate Theses—Unrestricted
From 1999 to 2006 the NASA Stardust mission collected cometary particles from the Wild 2 comet and interstellar dust from the interstellar medium in two collectors made from aerogel tiles and aluminum foil. By studying their isotopic compositions, these particles can provide us with information about nucleosynthetic processes in stars. Both collector trays are being studied for traces of these particles, though a number of challenges have arisen in doing so. Identifying impact craters in the aluminum foil on the interstellar collector tray has been incredibly difficult. In addition to being only a few micrometers or less in diameter, many …