[meteorite-list] Silicate Stardust in Meteorites

[bernd.pauli at paulinet.de]

> Silicates are the most abundant solids in disks around
> growing stars, but they have not been found in even the
> most primitive meteorite--until now.

> None of this would be possible without the great
> leaps forward in analytical instrumentation.

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Right, because only four years ago Messenger et al. wrote:

The grains found to date are highly refractory phases (e.g. graphite,
silicon carbide, corundum) ... However, these phases are thought to
be rare in the interstellar medium, and the most abundant type of
interstellar grain, silicates, has yet to be identified in meteorites.

Locating presolar silicates in meteorites is an experimental challenge,
requiring one to locate potentially very rare presolar grains among a sea
of isotopically normal solar system silicates ... No definitive presolar silicates
have been identified among the current dataset ... One grain with a measured
Oxygen-16/Oxygen-18 of 1.19x solar remains a potential presolar candidate ...

Reference:

MESSENGER S. et al. (2000) Search for presolar silicates
in Acfer 094 (MAPS 35-5, 2000, Suppl., A109)

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Best wishes,

Bernd