Publication Date:
2016-04-16
Description:
Interstellar dust (ISD) is the condensed phase of the interstellar medium. In situ data from the Cosmic Dust Analyzer on board the Cassini spacecraft reveal that the Saturnian system is passed by ISD grains from our immediate interstellar neighborhood, the local interstellar cloud. We determine the mass distribution of 36 interstellar grains, their elemental composition, and a lower limit for the ISD flux at Saturn. Mass spectra and grain dynamics suggest the presence of magnesium-rich grains of silicate and oxide composition, partly with iron inclusions. Major rock-forming elements (magnesium, silicon, iron, and calcium) are present in cosmic abundances, with only small grain-to-grain variations, but sulfur and carbon are depleted. The ISD grains in the solar neighborhood appear to be homogenized, likely by repeated processing in the interstellar medium.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Altobelli, N -- Postberg, F -- Fiege, K -- Trieloff, M -- Kimura, H -- Sterken, V J -- Hsu, H-W -- Hillier, J -- Khawaja, N -- Moragas-Klostermeyer, G -- Blum, J -- Burton, M -- Srama, R -- Kempf, S -- Gruen, E -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2016 Apr 15;352(6283):312-8. doi: 10.1126/science.aac6397.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉European Space Agency, European Space Astronomy Centre, Madrid, Spain. nicolas.altobelli@sciops.esa.int. ; Institut fur Geowissenschaften, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany. Institut fur Raumfahrtsysteme, University of Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany. ; Institut fur Geowissenschaften, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany. Georgia Institute of Technology, School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Atlanta, GA, USA. ; Institut fur Geowissenschaften, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany. Klaus-Tschira-Labor fur Kosmochemie, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany. ; Kobe University, Kobe, Hyogo, Japan. ; International Space Sciences Institute, Bern, Switzerland. ; University of Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA. ; University of Kent, Kent, UK. ; Institut fur Raumfahrtsysteme, University of Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany. ; Technische Universitat Braunschweig, Institut fur Geophysik und Extraterrestrische Physik, Braunschweig, Germany. ; Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, USA. ; Institut fur Geowissenschaften, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany. Institut fur Raumfahrtsysteme, University of Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany. University of Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27081064" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉
Print ISSN:
0036-8075
Electronic ISSN:
1095-9203
Topics:
Biology
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Chemistry and Pharmacology
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Computer Science
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Medicine
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Natural Sciences in General
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Physics
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