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At least 325 records · Page 18
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NASA NTRS1992

Interplanetary meteoroid debris in LDEF metal craters

The extraterrestrial meteoroid residue found lining craters in the Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) aluminum and gold targets is highly variable in both quantity and type. In typical craters only a minor amount of residue is found and for these craters it is evident that most of the impacting projectile was ejected during crater formation. Less than 10 percent of the craters greater than 100 microns contain abundant residue consistent with survival of a major fraction of the projectile. In these cases the residue can be seen optically as a dark liner and it can easily be analyzed by SEM-EDX techniques. Because they are rare, the craters with abundant residue must be a biased sampling of the meteoroids reaching the earth. Factors that favor residue retention are low impact velocity and material properties such as high melting point. In general, the SEM-EDX observations of crater residues are consistent with the properties of chondritic meteorites and interplanetary dust particles collected in the stratosphere. Except for impacts by particles dominated by single minerals such as FeS and olivine, most of the residue compositions are in broad agreement with the major element compositions of chondrites. In most cases the residue is a thin liner on the crater floor and these craters are difficult to quantitatively analyze by EDX techniques because the electron beam excites both residue and underlying metal substrate. In favorable cases, the liner is thick and composed of vesicular glass with imbedded FeNi, sulfide and silicate grains. In the best cases of meteoroid preservation, the crater is lined with large numbers of unmelted mineral grains. The projectiles fragmented into micron sized pieces but the fragments survived without melting. In one case, the grains contain linear defects that appear to be solar flare tracks. Solar flare tracks are common properties of small interplanetary particles and their preservation during impact implies that the fragments were not heated above 600 C. We are investigating the meteoroid fragments in LDEF metal craters to determine the properties of interplanetary dust and to determine if there are meteoroid types that are overlooked or otherwise undetected in cosmic dust collections obtained from the stratosphere and polar ice.

Brownlee, D. E.↗
NASA NTRS1996

From Stardust to Planetesimals: Contributed Papers

On June 24 through 26, 1996, a scientific conference entitled From Stardust to Planetesimals was held at the Westin Hotel, Santa Clara, California, as part of the 108th annual meeting of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. Over the last decade, our understanding of the formation and early evolution of the solar system has advanced considerably due to progress that has been made simultaneously on many fronts. Stardust has been isolated in meteorites and interplanetary dust particles (IDP's), providing us with sample materials which predate the solar system and which offer clues to the processing that has occurred. At the same time, infrared studies have led to a better characterization of the composition of interstellar dust, which is now readily accepted as an important component of the interstellar medium infrared observations have also provided a much better view of the star-formation process and the role of dust therein. Recently, the presence of Kuiper Belt planetesimals has been confirmed and spectroscopy of these rather pristine objects may soon become available. Analysis of spacecraft data from the Comet Halley flybys has yielded a wealth of information on the composition of this comet. These observational advances have changed our understanding of planetesimal processing. The launch of the Infrared Space Observatory, the opening of 10-meter class telescopes, and, in the longer term, the Rosetta mission, promise to continue to broaden and deepen our understanding of the evolution from stardust to planetesimals. For these reasons we considered it timely to organize a meeting focused on the processes that connect stardust and planetesimals. The goal of this meeting was, therefore, to bring together astronomers interested in star- and planet-formation, planetary scientists studying early solar system relics, laboratory scientists studying the processing of analogs, and scientists analyzing meteorites and interplanetary dust particles, grain by grain. As a result of this endeavor, over 200 participants, including 153 scientists from 14 different countries, gathered to discuss the origin and evolution of stardust. We hope that this encounter in Santa Clara will foster an ongoing interchange of information and ideas within this diverse group of scientists. A major aim of this meeting was to produce conference proceedings which reflect the current situation regarding the evolution from stardust to planetesimals.

Kress, M. E.↗
NASA NTRS2012

Comparing the Atmospheres of Mercury and the Earth's Moon

The exospheres of Mercury and the Earth's Moon are fundamentally similar, but the differences that do exist between them can help us to develop a better understanding of the processes at work on the two bodies that produce and remove volatiles. The major differences are derived from (1) the different compositions of the two surfaces, (2) the different particle and field em'ironments above the surface of each body (particularly the presence of intrinsic magnetic field of Mercury), and (3) the larger flux of interplanetary dust incident at the orbit of Mercury. The first difference, surface composition, is the most intractable problem, but the most challenging part of that problem, the composition of the Hermean regolith, may be at least partially addressed as the MESSENGER mission completes work over the next year. Much progress has been made with respect to exploring the second difference above--spacecraft such as Helios, Ulysses, WIND, and ACE have measured the solar wind and its composition both in Earth orbit and at distances encompassing the orbit of Mercury. While our knowledge of the solar wind is incomplete, again it is far more detailed than a simple 1/R(sup 2) law would predict. Another problem is that of the flux of charged particles to the surfaces. While Mercury's magnetosphere is the subject of current study with MESSENGER, the influx of charged particles on the Moon has gone beyond a cos (psi) picture, where psi is the solar zenith angle. We know that the influx of ions at the Moon is affected by magnetic anomalies, by craters, and by surface charging. The third external difference is the differing flux of interplanetary dust incident on the two surfaces. In this talk we will consider: (1) the species that one can compare now for these two exospheres (Na, K, and He); (2) the species that you might be able to compare with future measurements (Ca and Mg); arid (3) how intensive ground-based observations of the easiest lunar species to observe from the ground, Na and K, might help us address source processes at work on both surfaces. We will discuss current and planned modeling efforts for both the lunar and Hermean exospheres, and some current and planned observations, both ground-based and space-based.

Morgan, Thomas H.↗
NASA NTRS1998

Extraterrestrial organic matter: a review

We review the nature of the widespread organic material present in the Milky Way Galaxy and in the Solar System. Attention is given to the links between these environments and between primitive Solar System objects and the early Earth, indicating the preservation of organic material as an interstellar cloud collapsed to form the Solar System and as the Earth accreted such material from asteroids, comets and interplanetary dust particles. In the interstellar medium of the Milky Way Galaxy more than 100 molecular species, the bulk of them organic, have been securely identified, primarily through spectroscopy at the highest radio frequencies. There is considerable evidence for significantly heavier organic molecules, particularly polycyclic aromatics, although precise identification of individual species has not yet been obtained. The so-called diffuse interstellar bands are probably important in this context. The low temperature kinetics in interstellar clouds leads to very large isotopic fractionation, particularly for hydrogen, and this signature is present in organic components preserved in carbonaceous chondritic meteorites. Outer belt asteroids are the probable parent bodies of the carbonaceous chondrites, which may contain as much as 5% organic material, including a rich variety of amino acids, purines, pyrimidines, and other species of potential prebiotic interest. Richer in volatiles and hence less thermally processed are the comets, whose organic matter is abundant and poorly characterized. Cometary volatiles, observed after sublimation into the coma, include many species also present in the interstellar medium. There is evidence that most of the Earth's volatiles may have been supplied by a 'late' bombardment of comets and carbonaceous meteorites, scattered into the inner Solar System following the formation of the giant planets. How much in the way of intact organic molecules of potential prebiotic interest survived delivery to the Earth has become an increasingly debated topic over the last several years. The principal source for such intact organics was probably accretion of interplanetary dust particles of cometary origin.

NASA Discipline Exobiology↗
NASA NTRS1972

Interplanetary cosmic dust flux

Pioneer 8 and 9 measured cosmic dust flux rate data are in agreement with astronomy theory, zodiacal light measurements, and ground-based observations, but differ markedly from the high flux rates deduced from earlier in situ measurements. As many as seven orders-of-magnitude separate the small particle end of the high and low flux curves. It was concluded that the data from the multicoincidence cosmic dust sensors have not only measured very low flux for micrometeorites, which is in keeping with astronomy theory, but have also shown how a high flux theory may be based on faulty data.

Berg, O. E.↗
NASA NTRS2014

The LBTI Hunt for Observable Signatures of Terrestrial Systems (HOSTS) Survey: a Key NASA Science Program on the Road to Exoplanet Imaging Missions (SPIE Proceedings 2)

Telescope Interferometer (LBTI) will survey nearby stars for faint exozodiacal dust (exozodi). This warm circumstellar dust, analogous to the interplanetary dust found in the vicinity of the Earth in our own system, is produced in comet breakups and asteroid collisions. Emission and or scattered light from the exozodi will be the major source of astrophysical noise for a future space telescope aimed at direct imaging and spectroscopy of terrestrial planets (exo- Earths) around nearby stars. About 20 of nearby field stars have cold dust coming from planetesimals at large distances from the stars (Eiroa et al. 2013, AA, 555, A11; Siercho et al. 2014, ApJ, 785, 33). Much less is known about exozodi; current detection limits for individual stars are at best 500 times our solar system's level (aka. 500 zodi). LBTI-HOSTS will be the first survey capable of measuring exozodi at the 10 zodi level (3). Detections of warm dust will also reveal new information about planetary system architectures and evolution. We will describe the motivation for the survey and progress on target selection, not only the actual stars likely to be observed by such a mission but also those whose observation will enable sensible extrapolations for stars that will not be observed with LBTI. We briefly describe the detection of the debris disk around Crv, which is the first scientific result from the LBTI coming from the commissioning of the instrument in December 2013, shortly after the first time the fringes were stabilized.

exozodiacal dust↗
NASA NTRS2016

Comet Dust: The Diversity of "Primitive" Particles and Implications

Comet dust is primitive and shows significant diversity. Our knowledge of the properties of primitive particles has expanded significantly through microscale investigations of cosmic dust samples ( IDP's(Interplanetary Dust Particles) and AMM's (Antarctic Micrometeorites)) and of comet dust samples (Stardust and Rosetta's COSIMA), as well as through remote sensing (spectroscopy and imaging) via Spitzer and via spacecraft encounters with 103P/Hartley 2 and 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Microscale investigations show that comet dust and cosmic dust are particles of unequilibrated materials, including aggregates of materials unequilibrated at submicron scales. We call unequilibrated materials "primitive" and we deduce they were incorporated into ice-rich (H2O-, CO2-, and CO-ice) parent bodies that remained cold, i.e., into comets, because of the lack of aqueous or thermal alteration since particle aggregation; yet some Stardust olivines suggest mild thermal metamorphism. Primitive particles exhibit a diverse range of: structure and typology; size and size distribution of constituents; concentration and form of carbonaceous and organic matter; D-, N-, and O- isotopic enhancements over solar; Mg-, Fe-contents of the silicate minerals; the compositions and concentrations of sulfides, and of less abundant mineral species such as chondrules, CAIs and carbonates. The uniformity within a group of samples points to: aerodynamic sorting of particles and/or particle constituents; the inclusion of a limited range of oxygen fugacities; the inclusion or exclusion of chondrules; a selection of organics. The properties of primitive particles imply there were disk processes that resulted in different comets having particular selections of primitive materials. The diversity of primitive particles has implications for the diversity of materials in the protoplanetary disk present at the time and in the region where the comets formed.

Wooden, Diane H.↗
NASA NTRS2022

Evidence for a Significant Kuiper Belt Dust Contribution to the Zodiacal Cloud

Interplanetary dust particles (IDPs) are important samples of dust-producing objects in the solar system including many primitive and organic-rich bodies that are not sampled by known meteorites. IDPs spiral in towards the Sun under the influence of Poynting-Robertson (P-R) drag forces and are exposed to solar energetic particles (SEPs) that leave tracks of ionization damage in anhydrous silicate grains. We determined the exposure ages of track-rich IDPs using a new calibration of the SEP track production rate and show that track-rich IDPs have long exposure ages (>1 My) that preclude an origin from main-belt asteroids (MBAs) and Jupiter-family comets (JFCs). We propose that track-rich IDPs represent samples of dust produced by collisions among Edgeworth-Kuiper Belt objects (EKBOs) and that appreciable amounts of EKBO dust are contributing to the Zodiacal cloud. Many track-rich IDPs also contain abundant secondary minerals that provide direct evidence for past aqueous activity on some EKBOs.

Lindsay P. Keller↗
NASA NTRS2020

FOSSIL—Finding Our Cosmic Roots

FOSSIL (Fragments from the Origins of the Solar System and our Interstellar Locale) is a concept to explore the largest solar system object visible to the unaided eye—the zodiacal cloud. The cloud’s many dust particles are each a tiny time capsule from a comet or asteroid. The FOSSIL concept is for the in situ compositional analysis of interplanetary dust particles, and also of the particles passing through the solar system from interstellar space. By measuring the zodiacal and interstellar particles’ velocity vectors and compositions, the approach resolves fundamental questions about the solar system’s origins. The FOSSIL concept is to: (1) Discover whether today’s local interstellar dust matches the composition of the feedstock from which the solar system formed; (2) Determine whether comets’ fine-grained component preserves unprocessed pre-solar dust or shows signs of processing in the early solar system; and (3) Learn whether comets’ and asteroids’ organic material share a common source or formed from distinct reservoirs. The FOSSIL concept is based on the use of a Dust Telescope (DT) with the capability to measure the composition and the velocity vector of dust particles to unambiguously separate interstellar from interplanetary particles, and identify a subset of zodiacal particles that are exclusively cometary. In the DT, particles pass through the trajectory sensor unharmed and impact a target plate, where they are vaporized and partially ionized. The ions are electrostatically focused onto a detector where the time-of-flight mass spectrum is recorded, enabling measurement of the composition of the interstellar solids, detection of cometary minerals altered by high temperatures or exposure to liquid water in the early solar system, and the characterization of the organic materials from the comets and asteroids that are still being delivered to the Earth today. FOSSIL’s objectives crosscut several disciplines with planetary science. Astrophysics interests lie in understanding interstellar solar matter and the only debris disk accessible in situ. Heliophysics interest is in the verification of large-scale heliospheric magnetic field models by the measured effect on the motion of electrically charged interstellar dust. Reporting the makeup of interplanetary dust that ablates in our atmosphere is valuable to Earth sciences. FOSSIL’s DT is scalable and can be accommodated to a variety of mission opportunities, without restriction on launch dates, and for a large number of possible orbits.

Turner, Neal↗
NASA NTRS2014

Interplanetary and Interstellar Dust Observed by the Wind/WAVES Electric Field Instrument

Observations of hypervelocity dust particles impacting the Wind spacecraft are reported here for the first time using data from the WindWAVES electric field instrument. A unique combination of rotating spacecraft, amplitude-triggered high-cadence waveform collection, and electric field antenna configuration allow the first direct determination of dust impact direction by any spacecraft using electric field data. Dust flux and impact direction data indicate that the observed dust is approximately micron-sized with both interplanetary and interstellar populations. Nanometer radius dust is not detected by Wind during times when nanometer dust is observed on the STEREO spacecraft and both spacecraft are in close proximity. Determined impact directions suggest that interplanetary dust detected by electric field instruments at 1 AU is dominated by particles on bound trajectories crossing Earths orbit, rather than dust with hyperbolic orbits.

Wind spacecraft↗
NASA NTRS2012

Pristine Stratospheric Collections of Cosmic Dust

Since 1981, NASA has routinely collected interplanetary dust particles (IDPs) in the stratosphere by inertial impact onto silicone oil-coated flat plate collectors deployed on the wings of high-altitude aircraft [1]. The highly viscous oil traps and localizes the particles, which can fragment during collection. Particles are removed from the collectors with a micromanipulator and washed of the oil using organic solvents, typically hexane or xylene. While silicone oil is an efficient collection medium, its use is problematic. All IDPs are initially coated with this material (polydimethylsiloxane, n(CH3)2SiO) and traces of oil may remain after cleaning. The solvent rinse itself is also a concern as it likely removes indigenous organics from the particles. To avoid these issues, we used a polyurethane foam substrate for the oil-free stratospheric collection of IDPs.

Messenger, S.↗
NASA NTRS2013

Investigations of the Formation of Carbon Grains in Circumstellar Outflows

The study of formation and destruction processes of cosmic dust is essential to understand and to quantify the budget of extraterrestrial organic molecules. Although dust with all its components plays an important role in the evolution of interstellar chemistry and in the formation of organic molecules, little is known on the formation and destruction processes of carbonaceous dust. PAHs are important chemical building blocks of interstellar dust. They are detected in interplanetary dust particles and in meteoritic samples. Additionally, observational, laboratory, and theoretical studies have shown that PAHs, in their neutral and ionized forms, are an important, ubiquitous component of the interstellar medium. Also, the formation of PAHs from smaller molecules has not been extensively studied. Therefore, it is imperative that laboratory experiments be conducted to study the dynamic processes of carbon grain formation from PAH precursors. Studies of interstellar dust analogs formed from a variety of PAH and hydrocarbon precursors as well as species that include the atoms O, N, and S, have recently been performed in our laboratory under conditions that simulate interstellar and circumstellar environments. The species formed in the pulsed discharge nozzle (PDN) plasma source are detected and characterized with a high-sensitivity cavity ringdown spectrometer (CRDS) coupled to a Reflectron time-of-flight mass spectrometer (ReTOF-MS), thus providing both spectroscopic and ion mass information in-situ. We report the first set of measurements obtained in these experiments and identify the species present in the experiments and the ions that are formed in the plasma process. From these unique measurements, we derive information on the size and the structure of interstellar dust grain particles, the growth and the destruction processes of interstellar dust and the resulting budget of extraterrestrial organic molecules.

Grains↗
NASA NTRS1996

Interplanetary and Interstellar Dust Particles: Reentry Heating and Capture in Aerogel

Studies of interplanetary and interstellar dust can provide significant information on the evolution of the solar system or stars, respectively. However, for reliable analysis it is crucial to know how the particles have been modified during reentry (in the case of interplanetary dust particles, or [DP's) and impact into the capture medium. In the case of stratospheric capture, particles will be heated by atmospheric drag. Subsequent capture of the particles will result in heating, ablation, accretion of the capture medium and possible fragmentation. Modeling of these processes is a useful way of assessing their effects on the interpretation of the compositional data for these particles. Previous work on reentry heating has shown that heat diffusion alone cannot adequately account for temperature gradients observed in IDP's. In fact, for any reasonable thermal parameters, calculations show the particles to be nearly isothermal. Here we extend those studies to include phase transitions. These preliminary results are promising and show a significant temperature gradient for a 100 micron (diameter) particle. The actual capture of the particles in silica aerogel is being modeled using a comprehensive shock hydrodynamic code (called CTH). Various options of this code were investigated to attempt to make the most appropriate choice of methods of impact, equations of state, and processes of energy transfer from capture material to particle. The initial calculations with the code used only 'reasonable' estimates for the physical parameters of silica aerogel. Through the literature searches and personal contacts with the knowledgeable scientists, the best possible mechanical and thermal data have been made available for these computations.

Szydlik, Paul P.↗
NASA NTRS2021

The Formation of Carbonaceous Material in the Early Solar Nebula: The Role of Metal Dusting

For many years it has been suggested that the carbonaceous material found in association with Fe/Ni metal and metal carbides in primitive bodies is linked to the Fischer–Tropsch reaction. This is especially true with chondritic-porous interplanetary dust particles, which are considered to have a cometary origin and are among some of the most primitive and least processed materials available for study. Another phenomenon which occurs under the same carburizing conditions as the Fischer–Tropsch reaction is called metal dusting and could be a possible pathway to forming some of the carbonaceous material found in primitive bodies. Metal dusting is a catastrophic corrosion of metal under these carburizing conditions that results in a porous mixture of carbonaceous material, metal, and metal carbides. In the case of pure iron, type I metal dusting results in the formation of a metastable iron carbide, typically cementite, Fe3C. While metal dusting has been studied industrially for over 50 years, it does not appear to have been applied to the formation of carbonaceous material in astrophysical settings. In this work, the general mechanism of metal dusting on iron is described and a thermodynamic analysis of the dusting phenomena applied to solar nebula conditions. Rate measurements are made with pure iron samples over the temperature range from 400°C to 950°C. In addition, the products from experimental runs at 500°C and 600°C are studied by transmission electron microscopy. Results show that iron carbide particles are formed with carbonaceous material consisting of poorly graphitized carbon.

Interplanetary dust↗