No abstract

The Stardust spacecraft collected thousands of particles from comet 81P/Wild 2 and returned them to Earth for laboratory study. The preliminary examination of these samples shows that the nonvolatile portion of the comet is an unequilibrated assortment of materials that have both presolar and solar system origin. The comet contains an abundance of silicate grains that are much larger than predictions of interstellar grain models, and many of these are high-temperature minerals that appear to have formed in the inner regions of the solar nebula. Their presence in a comet proves that the formation of the solar system included mixing on the grandest scales.

The Hayabusa spacecraft successfully recovered dust particles from the surface of near-Earth asteroid 25143 Itokawa. Synchrotron-radiation x-ray diffraction and transmission and scanning electron microscope analyses indicate that the mineralogy and mineral chemistry of the Itokawa dust particles are identical to those of thermally metamorphosed LL chondrites, consistent with spectroscopic observations made from Earth and by the Hayabusa spacecraft. Our results directly demonstrate that ordinary chondrites, the most abundant meteorites found on Earth, come from S-type asteroids. Mineral chemistry indicates that the majority of regolith surface particles suffered long-term thermal annealing and subsequent impact shock, suggesting that Itokawa is an asteroid made of reassembled pieces of the interior portions of a once larger asteroid.

— Calcium‐ and aluminum‐rich inclusions (CAIs), chondrules, dark inclusions and matrices in certain CV3 carbonaceous chondrites appear to have been modified by different degrees of late‐stage alteration processes that caused significant variations in mineralogy and chemistry. Some chondrules and CAIs are rimmed with fayalitic olivine. Metal in all components may be oxidized and sulphidized to magnetite, Ni‐rich metal and sulfides. Silicates in all components are aqueously altered to different degrees to phyllosilicates. Primary minerals in some CAIs experienced Fe‐alkali‐halogen metasomatism forming nepheline, sodalite, wollastonite, hedenbergite and other secondary minerals. In CV3 chondrites with metasomatized CAIs, nepheline, sodalite, etc. are also present in chondrule mesostases and in matrices. McSween's (1977b) reduced subgroup of CV3 chondrites generally shows minimal alteration of all components and may represent the unaltered precursors for the oxidized CV3 chondrites, which generally show major alteration. Most studies have been focused on specific components in CV3 chondrites and have not considered possible relationships between alteration processes. We infer from the correlated occurrences of the alteration features that they were closely related in time and space and review nebular and asteroidal models for their origins. We prefer an asteroidal model.

The bulk of the comet 81P/Wild 2 (hereafter Wild 2) samples returned to Earth by the Stardust spacecraft appear to be weakly constructed mixtures of nanometer-scale grains, with occasional much larger (over 1 micrometer) ferromagnesian silicates, Fe-Ni sulfides, Fe-Ni metal, and accessory phases. The very wide range of olivine and low-Ca pyroxene compositions in comet Wild 2 requires a wide range of formation conditions, probably reflecting very different formation locations in the protoplanetary disk. The restricted compositional ranges of Fe-Ni sulfides, the wide range for silicates, and the absence of hydrous phases indicate that comet Wild 2 experienced little or no aqueous alteration. Less abundant Wild 2 materials include a refractory particle, whose presence appears to require radial transport in the early protoplanetary disk.

Organics found in comet 81P/Wild 2 samples show a heterogeneous and unequilibrated distribution in abundance and composition. Some organics are similar, but not identical, to those in interplanetary dust particles and carbonaceous meteorites. A class of aromatic-poor organic material is also present. The organics are rich in oxygen and nitrogen compared with meteoritic organics. Aromatic compounds are present, but the samples tend to be relatively poorer in aromatics than are meteorites and interplanetary dust particles. The presence of deuterium and nitrogen-15 excesses suggest that some organics have an interstellar/protostellar heritage. Although the variable extent of modification of these materials by impact capture is not yet fully constrained, a diverse suite of organic compounds is present and identifiable within the returned samples.

Deep Impact? On 15 February 2013, the Russian district of Chelyabinsk, with a population of more than 1 million, suffered the impact and atmospheric explosion of a 20-meter-wide asteroid—the largest impact on Earth by an asteroid since 1908. Popova et al. (p. 1069 , published online 7 November; see the Perspective by Chapman ) provide a comprehensive description of this event and of the body that caused it, including detailed information on the asteroid orbit and atmospheric trajectory, damage assessment, and meteorite recovery and characterization.

Abstract-The oxidized CV3 chondrites can be divided into two major subgroups or lithologies, Bali-like (cV3,,~) and d), in which chondrules, calcium-aluminum-rich inclusions (CAIs) and matrices show characteristic alteration features Krot et al., 1997d;Kimura and Ikeda, 1997). The cv30,B lithology is present in Bali, Kaba, parts of the Mokoia breccia and, possibly, in Grosnaja and Allan Hills (ALH) 85006. It is characterized by the presence of the secondary low-Ca phyllosilicates (saponite and sodium phlogopite), magnetite, Ni-rich sulfides, fayalite (Fa>go), Ca-Fe-rich pyroxenes (Fs 10-5oW045-50) and andradite. Phyllosilicates replace primary Ca-rich minerals in chondrules and CAIs, which suggests mobilization of Ca during aqueous alteration. Magnetite nodules are replaced to various degrees by fayalite, Ca-Fe-rich pyroxenes and minor andradite. Fayalite veins crosscut fine-grained rims around chondrules and extend into the matrix. Thermodynamic analysis of the observed reactions indicates that they could have occurred at relatively low temperatures (<300 "C) in the presence of aqueous solutions. Oxygen isotopic compositions of the coexisting magnetite and fayalite plot close to the terrestrial fractionation line with large A1*Ofayal,te-magnetlte fractionation (-20%0). We infer that phyllosilicates, magnetite, fayalite, Ca-Fe-rich pyroxenes and andradite formed at relatively low temperatures (<300 "C) by fluid-rock interaction in an asteroidal environment.Secondary fayalite and phyllosilicates are virtually absent in chondrules and CAIs in the CV3,d lithology, which is present in Allende and its dark inclusions, Axtell, ALHA81258, ALH 84028, Lewis Cliff (LEW) 86006, and parts of the Mokoia and Vigarano breccias. Instead secondary nepheline, sodalite, and fayalitic olivine are common. Fayalitic olivine in chondrules replaces low-Ca pyroxenes and rims and veins forsterite grains; it also forms coarse lath-shaped grains in matrix. Secondary Ca-Fe-rich pyroxenes are abundant. We infer that the CV3,d lithology experienced alteration at higher temperatures than the cv3,.& lithology. The presence of the reduced and CV3,d lithologies in the Vigarano breccia and W 3 , d and cV3,,~ lithologies in the Mokoia breccia indicates that all CV3 chondrites came from one heterogeneously altered asteroid. The metamorphosed clasts in Mokoia (Krot and Hutcheon, 1997) may be rare samples of the hotter interior of the CV asteroid. We conclude that the alteration features observed in the oxidized CV3 chondrites resulted from the fluid-rock interaction in an asteroid during progressive metamorphism of a heterogeneous mixture of ices and anhydrous materials mineralogically similar to the reduced CV3 chondrites.