Interstellar dust. Evidence for interstellar origin of seven dust particles collected by the Stardust spacecraft

Andrew J Westphal; Rhonda M Stroud; Hans A Bechtel; Frank E Brenker; Anna L Butterworth; George J Flynn; David R Frank; Zack Gainsforth; Jon K Hillier; Frank Postberg; Alexandre S Simionovici; Veerle J Sterken; Larry R Nittler; Carlton Allen; David Anderson; Asna Ansari; Saša Bajt; Ron K Bastien; Nabil Bassim; John Bridges; Donald E Brownlee; Mark Burchell; Manfred Burghammer; Hitesh Changela; Peter Cloetens; Andrew M Davis; Ryan Doll; Christine Floss; Eberhard Grün; Philipp R Heck; Peter Hoppe; Bruce Hudson; Joachim Huth; Anton Kearsley; Ashley J King; Barry Lai; Jan Leitner; Laurence Lemelle; Ariel Leonard; Hugues Leroux; Robert Lettieri; William Marchant; Ryan Ogliore; Wei Jia Ong; Mark C Price; Scott A Sandford; Juan-Angel Sans Tresseras; Sylvia Schmitz; Tom Schoonjans; Kate Schreiber; Geert Silversmit; Vicente A Solé; Ralf Srama; Frank Stadermann; Thomas Stephan; Julien Stodolna; Stephen Sutton; Mario Trieloff; Peter Tsou; Tolek Tyliszczak; Bart Vekemans; Laszlo Vincze; Joshua Von Korff; Naomi Wordsworth; Daniel Zevin; Michael E Zolensky; 30714 Stardust@home dusters

doi:10.1126/science.1252496

Interstellar dust. Evidence for interstellar origin of seven dust particles collected by the Stardust spacecraft

Science. 2014 Aug 15;345(6198):786-91. doi: 10.1126/science.1252496.

Authors

Andrew J Westphal¹, Rhonda M Stroud², Hans A Bechtel³, Frank E Brenker⁴, Anna L Butterworth⁵, George J Flynn⁶, David R Frank⁷, Zack Gainsforth⁵, Jon K Hillier⁸, Frank Postberg⁸, Alexandre S Simionovici⁹, Veerle J Sterken¹⁰, Larry R Nittler¹¹, Carlton Allen¹², David Anderson⁵, Asna Ansari¹³, Saša Bajt¹⁴, Ron K Bastien⁷, Nabil Bassim², John Bridges¹⁵, Donald E Brownlee¹⁶, Mark Burchell¹⁷, Manfred Burghammer¹⁸, Hitesh Changela¹⁹, Peter Cloetens²⁰, Andrew M Davis²¹, Ryan Doll²², Christine Floss²², Eberhard Grün²³, Philipp R Heck²⁴, Peter Hoppe²⁵, Bruce Hudson²⁶, Joachim Huth²⁵, Anton Kearsley²⁷, Ashley J King²¹, Barry Lai²⁸, Jan Leitner²⁵, Laurence Lemelle²⁹, Ariel Leonard²², Hugues Leroux³⁰, Robert Lettieri⁵, William Marchant⁵, Ryan Ogliore³¹, Wei Jia Ong²², Mark C Price¹⁷, Scott A Sandford³², Juan-Angel Sans Tresseras²⁰, Sylvia Schmitz⁴, Tom Schoonjans¹⁸, Kate Schreiber²², Geert Silversmit¹⁸, Vicente A Solé²⁰, Ralf Srama³³, Frank Stadermann²², Thomas Stephan²¹, Julien Stodolna⁵, Stephen Sutton²⁸, Mario Trieloff⁸, Peter Tsou³⁴, Tolek Tyliszczak³, Bart Vekemans¹⁸, Laszlo Vincze¹⁸, Joshua Von Korff⁵, Naomi Wordsworth³⁵, Daniel Zevin⁵, Michael E Zolensky¹²; 30714 Stardust@home dusters

Affiliations

¹ Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA. [email protected].
² Materials Science and Technology Division, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC, USA.
³ Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA.
⁴ Geoscience Institute, Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany.
⁵ Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA.
⁶ State University of New York at Plattsburgh, Plattsburgh, NY, USA.
⁷ Jacobs Technology/ESCG, NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC), Houston, TX, USA.
⁸ Institut für Geowissenschaften, University of Heidelberg, Germany.
⁹ Institut des Sciences de la Terre, Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble, Grenoble, France.
¹⁰ Institut für Raumfahrtsysteme (IRS), University of Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany. IGEP, TU Braunschweig, Braunschweig, Germany. Max Planck Institut für Kernphysik, Heidelberg, Germany. International Space Sciences Institute, Bern, Switzerland.
¹¹ Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, DC, USA.
¹² Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science, NASA JSC, Houston, TX, USA.
¹³ Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL, USA.
¹⁴ Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron, Hamburg, Germany.
¹⁵ Space Research Centre, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK.
¹⁶ Department of Astronomy, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
¹⁷ University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent, UK.
¹⁸ University of Ghent, Ghent, Belgium.
¹⁹ University of New Mexico.
²⁰ European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF), Grenoble, France.
²¹ University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
²² Washington University, St. Louis, MO, USA.
²³ Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik, Heidelberg, Germany.
²⁴ International Space Sciences Institute, Bern, Switzerland.
²⁵ Max-Planck-Institut für Chemie, Mainz, Germany.
²⁶ 615 William Street, Apt 405, Midland, Ontario, Canada.
²⁷ Natural History Museum, London, UK.
²⁸ Advanced Photon Source, Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, IL, USA.
²⁹ Ecole Normale Superieure de Lyon, Lyon, France.
³⁰ University Lille 1, France.
³¹ University of Hawai'i at Manoa, Honolulu, HI, USA.
³² NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, USA.
³³ IRS, University Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany.
³⁴ Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, USA.
³⁵ Wexbury, Farthing Green Lane, Stoke Poges, South Buckinghamshire, UK.

PMID: 25124433
DOI: 10.1126/science.1252496

Abstract

Seven particles captured by the Stardust Interstellar Dust Collector and returned to Earth for laboratory analysis have features consistent with an origin in the contemporary interstellar dust stream. More than 50 spacecraft debris particles were also identified. The interstellar dust candidates are readily distinguished from debris impacts on the basis of elemental composition and/or impact trajectory. The seven candidate interstellar particles are diverse in elemental composition, crystal structure, and size. The presence of crystalline grains and multiple iron-bearing phases, including sulfide, in some particles indicates that individual interstellar particles diverge from any one representative model of interstellar dust inferred from astronomical observations and theory.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.