2018/06/29 by Z. Gainsforth, Zack Gainsforth, A. J. Westphal +21
Chemistry · Earth and Planetary Sciences · Physics and Astronomy · #Aerogel #Astro and Planetary Science #Astrobiology #Astronomy #Chemistry #Comet #Comet dust #Composite material #Geology #High-pressure geophysics and materials #Hypervelocity #Interplanetary dust cloud #Iron sulfide #Materials science #Metallurgy #Mineralogy #Particle (ecology) #Physics #Planetary Science and Exploration #Solar System #Sulfide #Sulfur #astro-ph.EP
paper · pdf · doi:10.1111/maps.13265
arxiv created 2018/06/29 · openalex publication_date 2019/03/04 · arxiv updated 2019/03/26 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
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. Some of the FGM particles are indistinguishable in their characteristics from common components of chondritic-porous interplanetary dust particles (CP-IDPs), including glass with embedded metals and sulfides (GEMS) and equilibrated aggregates (EAs). The sulfide exhibits surprising Ni-rich lamellae, which may indicate that this particle experienced a long-duration heating event after its formation but before incorporation into Wild 2.