PRESOLAR GRAINS FROM NOVAE: EVIDENCE FROM NEON AND HELIUM ISOTOPES IN COMET DUST COLLECTIONS
- Department of Physics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455 (United States)
- Department of Astronomy, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455 (United States)
- School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287 (United States)
Presolar grains in meteorites and interplanetary dust particles carry non-solar isotopic signatures pointing to origins in supernovae, giant stars, and possibly other stellar sources. There have been suggestions that some of these grains condensed in the ejecta of classical nova outbursts, but the evidence is ambiguous. We report neon and helium compositions in particles captured on stratospheric collectors flown to sample materials from comets 26P/Grigg-Skjellerup and 55P/Tempel-Tuttle that point to condensation of their gas carriers in the ejecta of a neon (ONe) nova. The absence of detectable {sup 3}He in these particles indicates space exposure to solar wind irradiation of a few decades at most, consistent with origins in cometary dust streams. Measured {sup 4}He/{sup 20}Ne, {sup 20}Ne/{sup 22}Ne, {sup 21}Ne/{sup 22}Ne, and {sup 20}Ne/{sup 21}Ne isotope ratios, and a low upper limit on {sup 3}He/{sup 4}He, are in accord with calculations of nucleosynthesis in neon nova outbursts. Of these, the uniquely low {sup 4}He/{sup 20}Ne and high {sup 20}Ne/{sup 22}Ne ratios are the most diagnostic, reflecting the large predicted {sup 20}Ne abundances in the ejecta of such novae. The correspondence of measured Ne and He compositions in cometary matter with theoretical predictions is evidence for the presence of presolar grains from novae in the early solar system.
- OSTI ID:
- 22004625
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 742, Issue 2; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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