The oldest solar meteorites

A group of scientists led by Jessica Sunshine of the University of Maryland using visible and infrared data from telescopes in Mauna Kea, Hawaii has identified three meteorites that appear to be objects. The oldest in the solar system.

According to Sunshine and colleagues at the City University of New York, the Smithsonian Institution and the University of Hawaii, evidence that these meteorites are nearly constant since they were formed about 4.55 billion years ago. than the oldest celestial body ever discovered on Earth.

Sunshine said, 'We have identified non-meteorites in our meteorite collection and date from the earliest stages of our solar system. These meteorites are the leading candidates for future space missions, which are responsible for collecting and bringing samples to Earth to provide more insight into the first few million years of Sun. system.'

The beginning time

At the birth stage of the solar system, there was a hot cloud of disk gas, the solar nebula.As the gases on the edge of the nebula begin to cool, the first materials begin to condense into calcium and aluminum-rich solid molecules. As these gases cools further, other types of matter begin to condense. Eventually other types of solid molecules clump together to form common comet, meteorite and planetary groups. Astronomers used to think that at least the oldest meteorites in the solar system will be rich in calcium and aluminum, but until now, nothing has been proven.

Meteorites found on Earth actually contain small amounts of early time concentrates. Like in meteors, these bright white ancient materials, aluminum-rich calcium compounds (CAIs) are about 1cm in diameter. In fact, scientists have long used the lifespan of CAIs to determine the age of the solar system.

Samples of Allende No. 3509 have cuts approximately 1cm (Photo: Science Daily)

Tim McCoy, who is in charge of the national supernova collection at the Smithsonian National Museum of History, said: 'The Allende meteorite case fell to earth in 1969 to start a revolution in Thai research. The first generation system. It was at this time that scientists first discovered white chemical groups - later called calcium rich groups and aluminum - in this meteor that coincides with many predictive properties of concentrates in Early solar system. '

"I am surprised that it takes nearly 40 years for us to obtain the spectrum of these CAI-rich objects and those spectra will now start another revolution that directs us to the meteorite the first stage of solar system history. '

Sunshine and McCoy and colleagues Harold Connolly (New York City University), Bobby Bus (Institute of Astronomy, University of Hawaii, Hilo), Lauren La Croix (Smithsonian Institute) used SpeX devices at the Glass Center NASA infrared astronomer in Hawaii observes the surface of meteorites to find evidence of the presence of high-temperature rocks at first time.In particular, they found spectral traces that showed the presence of CAIs . Because different minerals have different reflecting properties, the spectrum - the color of light reflected from the surface - reveals information about its compound that allows compound analysis through telescopes.

In her article, Sunshine and colleagues compared quantitative CAIs and spectral traces of meteorite surfaces in the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History Museum. Sunshine said: 'Some CAI-rich meteorites have been identified to contain 2-3 times more CAI than other meteorites. So it seems that ancient meteors really exist and we know where they are. '

Extensive influence on the exploration of the universe

Scientists and engineers at the University of Maryland are pioneering efforts to explore the solar system and the universe outside it. The Maryland astronomers once commanded or participated in solar system tasks including Deep Impact and the task that followed it was EPOXI; Dawn's mission to study Ceres and the meteorite Vesta, the NEAR spacecraft, the first to orbit and then land on a meteorite in 2000.

Scientists from the University of Maryland's space physics team built sensors for 13 spacecraft including two Voyager currently exploring the outer edge of the solar system; Cassini mission (Saturn), Ulysses telescope observes the sun's poles and near-earth missions such as Geotail and the task of studying solar irregularity molecules (SAMPEX).

The University of Maryland System Lab helps people work more effectively in space by designing tools and clothes for astronauts; Creating robotic systems can assist astronauts and study how the human body works in space. To simulate the zero gravity environment in the space, the laboratory used its neutral floating device, the only one with this device on site.