Astronomical context of Solar System formation from molybdenum isotopes in meteorite inclusions

1,2Gregory A. Brennecka,2Christoph Burkhardt,2,3Gerrit Budde,1,4Thomas S. Kruijer,5Francis Nimmo,2Thorsten Kleine
Science 370, 837-840 Link to Article [DOI: 10.1126/science.aaz8482]
1Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA, USA.
2Institut für Planetologie, University of Münster, Münster, Germany.
3Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA.
4Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Berlin, Germany.
5Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA.
Reprinted with permission from AAAS

Calcium-aluminum–rich inclusions (CAIs) in meteorites are the first solids to have formed in the Solar System, defining the epoch of its birth on an absolute time scale. This provides a link between astronomical observations of star formation and cosmochemical studies of Solar System formation. We show that the distinct molybdenum isotopic compositions of CAIs cover almost the entire compositional range of material that formed in the protoplanetary disk. We propose that CAIs formed while the Sun was in transition from the protostellar to pre–main sequence (T Tauri) phase of star formation, placing Solar System formation within an astronomical context. Our results imply that the bulk of the material that formed the Sun and Solar System accreted within the CAI-forming epoch, which lasted less than 200,000 years.

Oxygen-isotope systematics of chondrules and olivine fragments from Tagish Lake C2 chondrite: Implications of chondrule-forming regions in protoplanetary disk

1Takayuki Ushikubo,2Makoto Kimura
Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta (in Press) Link to Article [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2020.11.003]
1Kochi Institute for Core Sample Research, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), 200 Monobe-otsu, Nankoku, Kochi 783-8502 Japan
2National Institute for Polar Research, 10-3 Midoricho, Tachikawa, Tokyo 190-8518 Japan
Copyright Elsevier

Oxygen-isotope ratios of olivine in type I (MgO-rich) and type II (FeO-rich) chondrules and olivine fragments in the matrix from the Tagish Lake meteorite (C2-anomalous) were measured to understand the characteristics of the formation environment of the Tagish Lake chondrules. Of the 43 samples analyzed, 31 are MgO-rich and 16O-rich (Δ17O ∼ −5‰ [= δ17O – 0.52 × δ18O]), which is typical of chondrules in CM, CO, and CV chondrites. Six samples are FeO-rich and 16O-poor (Δ17O ∼ −2‰), while three samples are FeO-rich chondrules with Δ17O ≥ 0‰, the latter being a major component of chondrules and similar to the majority of crystalline silicates recovered from comet Wild 2.
Copyright Elsevier

The correlation between Mg# [= MgO / (MgO + FeO) mol %] and Δ17O values of the samples defines an intermediate trend between those of CM chondrite chondrules and comet Wild 2 samples. Assuming that the CM chondrites, Tagish Lake meteorite, and comet Wild 2 represent C-type asteroids, D-type asteroids, and Kuiper belt objects, respectively, the results of this study indicate that type II chondrules with Δ17O ≥ 0‰ formed at a location much farther out than that where the Tagish Lake meteorite parent body accreted, more than 3.1 million years after the CAI formation assuming homogeneous distribution of 26Al in the early Solar System (Tenner et al., 2019). These two aspects, namely the broad range of heliocentric distance and the prolonged period of chondrule formation, are important constraints when considering appropriate mechanisms of chondrule formation in the protoplanetary disk.

Laboratory photometry of regolith analogues: Effect of porosity-II

1A.Kar,1A.K.Sen,2R.Gupta
Icarus (in Press) Link to Article [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2020.114211]
1Department of Physics, Assam University, Silchar 788011, India
2IUCAA, Ganeshkhind, Pune 411007, India
Copyright Elsevier

Context:
Numerous minor bodies of our solar system are covered by loosely bound dust particles; these layers are called regolith. Light scattered by regolith surfaces is a function of their bulk porosity, of the sizes, shapes, structures and compositions of the constituent particles.

Aims:
To increase our data base, the present work is an extension of our previous work by Kar et al. (2016), where we reported light scattering data for regolith surfaces with different porosities, sizes, and composition of the particles (from very low to moderate absorption). The new samples have larger particles with moderate to high absorption, three originate from industry, and three are natural (among them a mixture of two previously studied samples).

Methods:
The samples were prepared with different bulk porosities. Photometric phase curves were built for two different geometrical configurations. The light source was a He-Ne laser at 632.8 nm. The phase angle () covered for the first configuration is from 45 to 126° and for the second configuration it is from 45 to 108°, in steps of 9 and 4.5° respectively. We maintained incident angle ()= emergent angle () for the first configuration and , while varying for the second configuration. The experimental data were fitted successfully to the semi-empirical model proposed by Hapke (2008) and interpreted in terms of the porosities and sizes of the particles. The albedo values obtained from the model for two samples are compared to those calculated directly from Mie theory.

Results:
The successful fit by the model is confirmed just as the increase of reflectivity with the decrease of porosities for a given composition and particle size. Further, it was observed that reflectivity increases with the decrease in particle size for a given composition.

Finally, we have tested that for corundum and silicon carbide samples with a and particle sizes ( respectively), the best fitted albedo () values that can be obtained from Hapke model, match very well with those calculated directly by Mie Theory. This also re-validated our approach adopted in the present work.

Near-infrared spectroscopy of the Sulamitis asteroid family: Surprising similarities in the inner belt primitive asteroid population

1Anicia Arredondo,1Humberto Campins,2Noemi Pinilla-Alonso,3,4Juliade León,5,3Vania Lorenzi,3,6David Morate
Icarus (in Press) Link to Article [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2020.114210]
1Physics Department, University of Central Florida, P.O. Box 162385, Orlando, FL 32816, USA
2Florida Space Institute, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL 32816, USA
3Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, C/Vía Láctea s/n, 38205 La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain
4Departamento de Astrofísica, Universidad de La Laguna, 38205 La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain
5Fundación Galileo Galilei – INAF, La Palma (TF), Spain
6Observatório Nacional, Coordenação de Astronomia e Astrofísica, 20921-400 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Copyright Elsevier

We present NIR spectra of 19 asteroids in the Sulamitis family as part of our survey of primitive inner belt asteroid families. The spectra were obtained with NASA’s Infrared Telescope Facility and the Telescopio Nazionale Galileo between January 2017 and February 2020. We find spectral homogeneity in our sample despite the diversity within the family observed at visible wavelengths. The average Sulamitis spectrum is flat with a spectral slope of 0.89 ± 0.26%/1000 Å between 0.95 and 2.3 μm. We show that the Sulamitis family is spectrally similar to other inner belt families in the NIR, despite differences between families seen in the visible wavelength range. We also compare our obtained spectra with asteroids (101955) Bennu and (162173) Ryugu to show that the Sulamitis family is a plausible source of Ryugu.

High-pressure phases in the Dhofar 922 L6 chondrite: Crystallization of olivine-ringwoodite aggregates and jadeite from melt

1Bazhan, I.S.,2,3Litasov, K.D.,4Badyukov, D.D.
Russian Geology and Geophysics 61, 241-249 Link to Article [DOI: 10.15372/RGG2019072]
1V.S. Sobolev Institute of Geology and Mineralogy, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, pr. Akademika Koptyuga 3, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russian Federation
2Vereshchagin Institute for High Pressure Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Kaluzhskoe shosse 14, Troitsk, Moscow, 108840, Russian Federation
3Fersman Mineralogical Museum, Russian Academy of Sciences, Leninsky pr. 18/2, Moscow, 119071, Russian Federation
4Vernadsky Institute of Geochemistry and Analytical Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, ul. Kosygina 19, Moscow, 119991, Russian Federation

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Photometry of asteroid (101955) Bennu with OVIRS on OSIRIS-REx

1Xiao-DuanZou et al. (>10)
Icarus (in Press) Link to Article [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2020.114183]
1Planetary Science Institute, Tucson, AZ, USA
Copyright Elsevier

NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft arrived at its sampling target, asteroid (101955) Bennu, in December 2018 and started a series of global observation campaigns. Here we investigate the global photometric properties of Bennu as observed by the OSIRIS-REx Visible and InfraRed Spectrometer (OVIRS) over the time period December 9, 2018, to September 26, 2019. In this study we used observations obtained over wavelengths ranging from 0.4 to 3.7 μm, with a solar phase angle range of 5.3° to 132.6°. Our aim is to characterize the global average disk-resolved photometric properties of Bennu with multiple models. The best-fit model is a McEwen model with an exponential phase function and an exponential polynomial partition function. We use this model to correct the OVIRS spectra of Bennu to a standard reference viewing and illumination geometry at visible to infrared wavelengths for the purposes of global spectral mapping. We derive a bolometric Bond albedo map in which Bennu’s surface values range from 0.021 to 0.027. We find a phase reddening effect, and our model is effective at removing this phase reddening. Our average model albedo shows a blueish spectrum with a > 10% absorption feature centered at 2.74 μm. Of all comparisons with previously visited asteroids and comets, only 28P/Neujmin, 2P/Encke, and (162173) Ryugu are darker than Bennu. We find that Bennu is a few percent brighter than Ryugu in the wavelengths respectively observed by the OSIRIS-REx and Hayabusa2 missions (from 0.48 to 0.86 μm). We also compare our spectroscopic photometry of Bennu with the OSIRIS-REx imaging photometry and with ground-based predictions.

Application of FIB-SEM Techniques for the Advanced Characterization of Earth and Planetary Materials

1,2,3Gu, L.,2,4Wang, N.,1,2,3Tang, X.,2,3,5,6Changela, H.G.
Scanning 2020, 8406917 Link to Article [DOI: 10.1155/2020/8406917]
1Electron Microscopy Laboratory, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
2Key Laboratory of Earth and Planetary Physics, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
3Innovation Academy for Earth Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 10029, China
4University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
5Qian Xuesen Laboratory of Space Technology, Chinese Academy of Space Technology, Beijing, China
6Department of Earth and Planetary Science, University of New Mexico, New Mexico, United States

We currently do not have a copyright agreement with this publisher and cannot display the abstract here

Variations in color and reflectance on the surface of asteroid (101955) Bennu

1,2D.N.DellaGiustina et al. (>10)
Science 370, eabc3660 Link to Article [DOI: 10.1126/science.abc3660]
1Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA.
2Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA.
Reprinted with permission from AAAS

Visible-wavelength color and reflectance provide information about the geologic history of planetary surfaces. Here we present multispectral images (0.44 to 0.89 micrometers) of near-Earth asteroid (101955) Bennu. The surface has variable colors overlain on a moderately blue global terrain. Two primary boulder types are distinguishable by their reflectance and texture. Space weathering of Bennu surface materials does not simply progress from red to blue (or vice versa). Instead, freshly exposed, redder surfaces initially brighten in the near-ultraviolet region (i.e., become bluer at shorter wavelengths), then brighten in the visible to near-infrared region, leading to Bennu’s moderately blue average color. Craters indicate that the time scale of these color changes is ~105 years. We attribute the reflectance and color variation to a combination of primordial heterogeneity and varying exposure ages.