Mar 13 2006
From The Space Library
Scientists announced preliminary findings from their evaluation of the dust samples of comet Wild 2, findings that NASA’s Stardust spacecraft had returned to Earth in January 2006. Stardust had passed within 149 miles (239.79 kilometers) of Wild 2 in January 2004, trapping particles of the comet within an exposed gel. Because comets form in the frigid region beyond Neptune’s orbit called the Kuiper Belt, the scientists were surprised to find that the samples of Wild 2 contained minerals that had formed near the Sun or near other stars, at temperatures higher than 1,100°C (2,012°F). These minerals included calcium, aluminum, and titanium, as well as olivine, a compound of iron and magnesium generally found in beach sand. Michael E. Zolensky, Stardust curator and co-investigator at NASA’s JSC, concluded that comets appear to be composed of a mixture of materials formed “at all temperature ranges, at places very near the early Sun and at places very remote from it.” According to Zolensky, finding high-temperature minerals in the comet provided support for a model of comet formation in which “strong bipolar jets coming out of the early sun propelled material formed near to the sun outward to the outer reaches of the solar system.” Over 100 scientists, most associated with NASA’s JSC, were continuing to study the sample particles to determine their chemical histories.
NASA, “NASA’s Stardust Findings May Alter View of Comet Formation,” news release 06-091, 13 March 2006, http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2006/mar/HQ_06091_Stardust_update.html (accessed 14 September 2009); Irene Klotz for Reuters, “US Scientists Unearth Hot Rocks from Cold Comet,” 14 March 2006; Warren E. Leary, “Hot Material Is Discovered in Icy Comets,” New York Times, 14 March 2006.
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