Isotopic compositions of cometary matter returned by Stardust.
Hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen isotopic compositions are heterogeneous among comet 81P/Wild 2 particle fragments; however, extreme isotopic anomalies are rare, indicating that the comet is not a pristine aggregate of presolar materials. Nonterrestrial nitrogen and neon isotope ratios suggest that indigenous organic matter and highly volatile materials were successfully collected. Except for a single (17)O-enriched circumstellar stardust grain, silicate and oxide minerals have oxygen isotopic compositions consistent with solar system origin. One refractory grain is (16)O-enriched, like refractory inclusions in meteorites, suggesting that Wild 2 contains material formed at high temperature in the inner solar system and transported to the Kuiper belt before comet accretion.
McKeegan
Kevin D
KD
Department of Earth and Space Sciences, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1567, USA. mckeegan@ess.ucla.edu
Aléon
Jerome
J
Bradley
John
J
Brownlee
Donald
D
Busemann
Henner
H
Butterworth
Anna
A
Chaussidon
Marc
M
Fallon
Stewart
S
Floss
Christine
C
Gilmour
Jamie
J
Gounelle
Matthieu
M
Graham
Giles
G
Guan
Yunbin
Y
Heck
Philipp R
PR
Hoppe
Peter
P
Hutcheon
Ian D
ID
Huth
Joachim
J
Ishii
Hope
H
Ito
Motoo
M
Jacobsen
Stein B
SB
Kearsley
Anton
A
Leshin
Laurie A
LA
Liu
Ming-Chang
MC
Lyon
Ian
I
Marhas
Kuljeet
K
Marty
Bernard
B
Matrajt
Graciela
G
Meibom
Anders
A
Messenger
Scott
S
Mostefaoui
Smail
S
Mukhopadhyay
Sujoy
S
Nakamura-Messenger
Keiko
K
Nittler
Larry
L
Palma
Russ
R
Pepin
Robert O
RO
Papanastassiou
Dimitri A
DA
Robert
François
F
Schlutter
Dennis
D
Snead
Christopher J
CJ
Stadermann
Frank J
FJ
Stroud
Rhonda
R
Tsou
Peter
P
Westphal
Andrew
A
Young
Edward D
ED
Ziegler
Karen
K
Zimmermann
Laurent
L
Zinner
Ernst
E
D002247:Carbon Isotopes / Q000032:analysis*; D003903:Deuterium / Q000032:analysis*; D006859:Hydrogen / Q000032:analysis; D007554:Isotopes / Q000032:analysis*; D019110:Meteoroids; D009356:Neon / Q000032:analysis; D009587:Nitrogen Isotopes / Q000032:analysis*; D005741:Noble Gases / Q000032:analysis; D010103:Oxygen Isotopes / Q000032:analysis*; D018531:Spacecraft
D002247:Carbon Isotopes; D007554:Isotopes; D009587:Nitrogen Isotopes; D005741:Noble Gases; D010103:Oxygen Isotopes; D009356:Neon; D006859:Hydrogen; D003903:Deuterium