Stardust in meteorites

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2011 Nov 29;108(48):19142-6. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1013483108. Epub 2011 Nov 21.

Abstract

Primitive meteorites, interplanetary dust particles, and comets contain dust grains that formed around stars that lived their lives before the solar system formed. These remarkable objects have been intensively studied since their discovery a little over twenty years ago and they provide samples of other stars that can be studied in the laboratory in exquisite detail with modern analytical tools. The properties of stardust grains are used to constrain models of nucleosynthesis in red giant stars and supernovae, the dominant sources of dust grains that are recycled into the interstellar medium by stars.

Publication types

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

MeSH terms

  • Carbon Compounds, Inorganic / analysis
  • Carbon Isotopes / analysis
  • Diamond / analysis
  • Extraterrestrial Environment / chemistry*
  • Graphite / analysis
  • Meteoroids*
  • Models, Chemical
  • Nitrogen Isotopes / analysis
  • Silicon Compounds / analysis
  • Stars, Celestial / chemistry*

Substances

  • Carbon Compounds, Inorganic
  • Carbon Isotopes
  • Nitrogen Isotopes
  • Silicon Compounds
  • Diamond
  • Graphite
  • silicon carbide