Hostname: page-component-6898cfcb55-th4rj Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-11-11T10:20:12.512Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Analytical methods for discriminating stardust in aerogel capture media

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 February 2012

Sean Brennan,
Katharina Luening,
Konstantin Ignatyev,
Piero Pianetta,
Hope A. Ishii and
John P. Bradley
Sean Brennan*
Affiliation:
Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, Menlo Park, California 94025
Katharina Luening
Affiliation:
Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, Menlo Park, California 94025
Konstantin Ignatyev
Affiliation:
Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, Menlo Park, California 94025
Piero Pianetta
Affiliation:
Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, Menlo Park, California 94025
Hope A. Ishii
Affiliation:
Institute for Geophysics and Planetary Physics, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94550
John P. Bradley
Affiliation:
Institute for Geophysics and Planetary Physics, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94550
*
a)Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. Electronic mail: sean.brennan@stanford.edu
Get access

Abstract

Methods using X-ray fluorescence have been developed to identify cometary material captured in aerogel during the NASA Stardust mission to Comet 81P/Wild 2. These analytical methods are necessitated by the levels of trace contaminants present in the aerogel. The cometary material disaggregates during deceleration in the aerogel, so fluorescence mapping of the entire track (which can be several millimeters long) is necessary. Distinguishing those pixels which have cometary material and aerogel from those which have only cometary material can be very challenging. We have chosen a “dual threshold” method, with some pixels clearly having only aerogel (plus contaminants) and other pixels clearly having cometary and aerogel material. Between these two threshold levels is a set of pixels which cannot be easily ascribed to one or the other. By leaving these pixels out of the analysis, the estimate of cometary material is improved.

Keywords

X-ray fluorescenceaerogelStardustComet 81P/Wild2elemental analysisastromaterials

Information

Type
Stardust Characterization
Information
Powder Diffraction , Volume 23 , Issue 2 , June 2008, pp. 81 - 86
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Brownlee, D. E., Tsou, P., Anderson, J. D., Hanner, M. S., Newburn, R. L., Sekanina, Z., Clark, B. C., Hörz, F., Zolensky, M. E., Kissel, J., McDonnell, J. A. M., Sandford, S. A., and Tuzzolino, A. J. (2003). “Stardust: Comet and interstellar dust sample return mission,” J. Geophys. Res. JGREA2 10.1029/2001JB000508 108, 1-1–1-15.Google Scholar
Brownlee, D., Tsou, P., Aléon, J., Alexander, C. M. O., Araki, T., Bajt, S., Baratta, G. A., Bastien, R., Bland, P., Bleuet, P., Borg, J., Bradley, J. P., Brearley, A., Brenker, F., Brennan, S., Bridges, J. C., Browning, N. D., Brucato, J. R., Bullock, E., Burchell, M. J., Busemann, H., Butterworth, A., Chaussidon, M., Cheuvront, A., Chi, M., Cintala, M. J., Clark, B. C., Clemett, S. J., Cody, G., Colangeli, L., Cooper, G., Cordier, P., Daghlian, C., Dai, Z., D’Hendecourt, L., Djouadi, Z., Dominguez, G., Duxbury, T., Dworkin, J. P., Ebel, D. S., Economou, T. E., Fakra, S., Fairey, S. A. J., Fallon, S., Ferrini, G., Ferroir, T., Fleckenstein, H., Floss, C., Flynn, G., Franchi, I. A., Fries, M., Gainsforth, Z., Gallien, J.-P., Genge, M., Gilles, M. K., Gillet, P., Gilmour, J., Glavin, D. P., Gounelle, M., Grady, M. M., Graham, G. A., Grant, P. G., Green, S. F., Grossemy, F., Grossman, L., Grossman, J. N., Guan, Y., Hagiya, K., Harvey, R., Heck, P., Herzog, G. F., Hoppe, P., Hörz, F., Huth, J., Hutcheon, I. D., Ignatyev, K., Ishii, H., Ito, M., Jacob, D., Jacobsen, C., Jacobsen, S., Jones, S., Joswiak, D., Jurewicz, A., Kearsley, A. T., Keller, L. P., Khodja, H., Kilcoyne, A. L. D., Kissel, J., Krot, A., Langenhorst, F., Lanzirotti, A., Le, L., Leshin, L. A., Leitner, J., Lemelle, L., Leroux, H., Liu, M.-C., Luening, K., Lyon, I., MacPherson, G., Marcus, M. A., Marhas, K., Marty, B., Matrajt, G., McKeegan, K., Meibom, A., Mennella, V., Messenger, K., Messenger, S., Mikouchi, T., Mostefaoui, S., Nakamura, T., Nakano, T., Newville, M., Nittler, L. R., Ohnishi, I., Ohsumi, K., Okudaira, K., Papanastassiou, D. A., Palma, R., Palumbo, M. E., Pepin, R. O., Perkins, D., Perronnet, M., Pianetta, P., Rao, W., Rietmeijer, F. J. M., Robert, F., Rost, D., Rotundi, A., Ryan, R., Sandford, S. A., Schwandt, C. S., See, T. H., Schlutter, D., Sheffield-Parker, J., Simionovici, A., Simon, S., Sitnitsky, I., Snead, C. J., Spencer, M. K., Stadermann, F. J., Steele, A., Stephan, T., Stroud, R., Susini, J., Sutton, S. R., Suzuki, Y., Taheri, M., Taylor, S., Teslich, N., Tomeoka, K., Tomioka, N., Toppani, A., Trigo-Rodríguez, J. M., Troadec, D., Tsuchiyama, A., Tuzzolino, A. J., Tyliszczak, T., Uesugi, K., Velbel, M., Vellenga, J., Vicenzi, E., Vincze, L., Warren, J., Weber, I., Weisberg, M., Westphal, A. J., Wirick, S., Wooden, D., Wopenka, B., Wozniakiewicz, P., Wright, I., Yabuta, H., Yano, H., Young, E. D., Zare, R. N., Zega, T., Ziegler, K., Zimmerman, L., Zinner, E.,and Zolensky, M. (2006). “Comet 81P/Wild 2 under a microscope,” Science SCIEAS 314, 1711–1716.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Flynn, G. J., Bleuet, P., Borg, J., Bradley, J. P., Brenker, F. E., Brennan, S., Bridges, J., Brownlee, D. E., Bullock, E. S., Burghammer, M., Clark, B. C., Dai, Z. R., Daghlian, C. P., Djouadi, Z., Fakra, S., Ferroir, T., Floss, C., Franchi, I. A., Gainsforth, Z., Gallien, J.-P., Gillet, P., Grant, P. G., Graham, G. A., Green, S. F., Grossemy, F., Heck, P. R., Herzog, G. F., Hoppe, P., Hörz, F., Huth, J., Ignatyev, K., Ishii, H. A., Janssens, K., Joswiak, D., Kearsley, A. T., Khodja, H., Lanzirotti, A., Leitner, J., Lemelle, L., Leroux, H., Luening, K., MacPherson, G. J., Marhas, K. K., Marcus, M. A., Matrajt, G., Nakamura, T., Nakamura-Messenger, K., Nakano, T., Newville, M., Papanastassiou, D. A., Pianetta, P., Rao, W., Riekel, C., Rietmeijer, F. J. M., Rost, D., Schwandt, C. S., See, T. H., Sheffield-Parker, J., Simionovici, A., Sitnitsky, I., Snead, C. J., Stadermann, F. J., Stephan, T., Stroud, R. M., Susini, J., Suzuki, Y., Sutton, S. R., Taylor, S., Teslich, N., Troadec, D., Tsou, P., Tsuchiyama, A., Uesugi, K., Vekemans, B., Vicenzi, E. P., Vincze, L., Westphal, A. J., Wozniakiewicz, P., Zinner, E., and Zolensky, M. E. (2006). “Elemental compositions of comet 81P/Wild 2 samples collected by stardust,” Science SCIEAS 314, 1731–1735.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hörz, F., Bastien, R., Borg, J., Bradley, J. P., Bridges, J. C., Brownlee, D. E., Burchell, M. J., Chi, M., Cintala, M. J., Dai, Z. R., Djouadi, Z., Dominguez, G., Economou, T. E., Fairey, S. A. J., Floss, C., Franchi, I. A., Graham, G. A., Green, S. F., Heck, P., Hoppe, P., Huth, J., Ishii, H., Kearsley, A. T., Kissel, J., Leitner, J., Leroux, H., Marhas, K., Messenger, K., Schwandt, C. S., See, T. H., Snead, C., Stadermann I, F. J., Stephan, T., Stroud, R., Teslich, N., Trigo-Rodríguez, J. M., Tuzzolino, A. J., Troadec, D., Tsou, P., Warren, J., Westphal, A., Wozniakiewicz, P., Wright, I., and Zinner, E. (2006). “Impact features on stardust: Implications for comet 81P/Wild 2 dust,” Science SCIEAS 314, 1716–1719.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Irvine, W. M. and Lunine, J. I. (2004). “The cycle of matter in the galaxy,” in Comets II, edited by Festou, M., Keller, H. U., and Weaver, H. (University of Arizona Press, Tucson), pp. 25–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ishii, H. A., Brennan, S., Bradley, J. P., Luening, K., Ignatyev, K., and Pianetta, P. (2008). “Recovering the elemental composition of comet Wild 2 dust in five stardust impact tracks and terminal particles in aerogel,” Meteorit. Planet. Sci. MPSCFY 43 (in press).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keller, L. P., Bajt, S., Baratta, G. A., Borg, J., Bradley, J. P., Brownlee, D. E., Busemann, H., Brucato, J. R., Burchell, M., Colangeli, L., D’Hendecourt, L., Djouadi, Z., Ferrini, G., Flynn, G., Franchi, I. A., Fries, M., Grady, M. M., Graham, G. A., Grossemy, F., Kearsley, A., Matrajt, G., Nakamura-Messenger, K., Mennella, V., Nittler, L., Palumbo, M. E., Stadermann, F. J., Tsou, P., Rotundi, A., Sandford, S. A., Snead, C., Steele, A., Wooden, D., and Zolensky, M. (2006). “Infrared spectroscopy of comet 81P/Wild 2 samples returned by stardust,” Science SCIEAS 314, 1728–1731.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McKeegan, K. D., Aléon, J., Bradley, J., Brownlee, D., Busemann, H., Butterworth, A., Chaussidon, M., Fallon, S., Floss, C., Gilmour, J., Gounelle, M., Graham, G., Guan, Y., Heck, P. R., Hoppe, P., Hutcheon, I. D., Huth, J., Ishii, H., Ito, M., Jacobsen, S. B., Kearsley, A., Leshin, L. A., Liu, M.-C., Lyon, I., Marhas, K., Marty, B., Matrajt, G., Meibom, A., Messenger, S., Mostefaoui, S., Mukhopadhyay, S., Nakamura-Messenger, K., Nittler, L., Palma, R., Pepin, R. O., Papanastassiou, D. A., Robert, F., Schlutter, D., Snead, C. J., Stadermann, F. J., Stroud, R., Tsou, R., Westphal, A., Young, E. D., Ziegler, K., Zimmermann, L., and Zinner, E. (2006). “Isotopic compositions of cometary matter returned by stardust,” Science SCIEAS 314, 1724–1728.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sandford, S. A., Aléon, J., Alexander, C. M. O., Araki, T., Bajt, S., Baratta, G. A., Borg, J., Bradley, J. P., Brownlee, D. E., Brucato, J. R., Burchell, M. J., Busemann, H., Butterworth, A., Clemett, S. J., Cody, G., Colangeli, L., Cooper, G., D’Hendecourt, L., Djouadi, Z., Dworkin, J. P., Ferrini, G., Fleckenstein, H., Flynn, G. J., Franchi, I. A., Fries, M., Gilles, M. K., Glavin, D. P., Gounelle, M., Grossemy, F., Jacobsen, C., Keller, L. P., Kilcoyne, A. L. D., Leitner, J., Matrajt, G., Meibom, A., Mennella, V., Mostefaoui, S., Nittler, L. R., Palumbo, M. E., Papanastassiou, D. A., Robert, F., Rotundi, A., Snead, C. J., Spencer, M. K., Stadermann, F. J., Steele, A., Stephan, T., Tsou, P., Tyliszczak, T., Westphal, A. J., Wirick, S., Wopenka, B., Yabuta, H., Zare, R. N., and Zolensky, M. E. (2006). “Organics captured from comet 81P/Wild 2 by the stardust spacecraft,” Science SCIEAS 314, 1720–1724.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Solé, V. A., Papillon, E., Cotte, M., Walter, Ph., and Susini, J. (2007). “A multiplatform code for the analysis of energy-dispersive x-ray fluorescence spectra,” Spectrochim. Acta, Part B SAASBH 10.1016/j.sab.2006.12.002 62, 63–68.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tsou, P., Brownlee, D. E., Sandford, S. A., Hörz, F., and Zolensky, M. E. (2003). “Wild 2 and interstellar sample collection and earth return,” J. Geophys. Res. JGREA2 108, 3-1–21.Google Scholar
Westphal, A. J., Snead, C., Butterworth, A., Graham, G. A., Bradley, J. P., Bajt, S., Grant, P. G., Bench, G., Brennan, S., and Pianetta, P. (2004). “Aerogel keystones: Extraction of complete hypervelocity impact events from aerogel collectors,” Meteorit. Planet. Sci. MPSCFY 39, 1375–1386.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zolensky, M. E., Zega, T. J., Yano, H., Wirick, S., Westphal, A. J., Weisberg, M. K., Weber, I., Warren, J. L., Velbel, M. A., Tsuchiyama, A., Tsou, P., Toppani, A., Tomioka, N., Tomeoka, K., Teslich, N., Taheri, M., Susini, J., Stroud, R., Stephan, T., Stadermann, F. J., Snead, C. J., Simon, S. B., Simionovici, A., See, T. H., Robert, F., Rietmeijer, F. J. M., Rao, W., Perronnet, M. C., Papanastassiou, D. A., Okudaira, K., Ohsumi, K., Ohnishi, I., Nakamura-Messenger, K., Nakamura, T., Mostefaoui, S., Mikouchi, T., Meibom, A., Matrajt, G., Marcus, M. A., Leroux, H., Lemelle, L., Le, L., Lanzirotti, A., Langenhorst, F., Krot, A. N., Keller, L. P., Kearsley, A. T., Joswiak, D., Jacob, D., Ishii, H., Harvey, R., Hagiya, K., Grossman, L., Grossman, J. N., Graham, G. A., Gounelle, M., Gillet, P., Genge, M. J., Flynn, G., Ferroir, T., Fallon, S., Ebel, D. S., Dai, Z. R., Cordier, P., Clark, B., Chi, M., Butterworth, A. L., Brownlee, D. E., Bridges, J. C., Brennan, S., Brearley, A., Bradley, J. P., Bleuet, P., Bland, P. A., and Bastien, R. (2006). “Mineralogy and petrology of comet 81P/Wild 2 nucleus samples,” Science SCIEAS 314, 1735–1739.CrossRefGoogle Scholar