ON THE INJECTION OF SHORT-LIVED RADIONUCLIDES FROM A SUPERNOVA INTO THE SOLAR NEBULA: CONSTRAINTS FROM THE OXYGEN ISOTOPES

Abstract

Injection of short-lived radionuclides from a nearby core-collapse Type II supernova into the already-formed solar protoplanetary disk was proposed to account for the former presence of 26Al, 41Ca, and 60Fe in the early solar system inferred from isotopic analysis of meteoritic samples. One potential corollary of this late-injection scenario is that the disk's initial (pre-injection) oxygen isotopic composition could be significantly altered, as supernova material that carried the short-lived radionuclides would also deliver oxygen components synthesized in that given star. Therefore, the change in the oxygen isotopic composition of the disk caused by injection could in principle be used to constrain the supernova injection models. Previous studies showed that although supernova oxygen could result in a wide range of shifts in 17O/16O and 18O/16O of the disk, a couple of cases existed where the calculated oxygen changes in the disk would be compatible with the meteoritic and solar wind data. Recently, the initial abundances of 41Ca and 60Fe in the solar system were revised to lower values, and the feasibility of supernova injection as a source for the three radionuclides was called into question. In this study, supernova parameters needed for matching 26Al, 41Ca, and 60Fe to their early solar system abundances were reinvestigated and then were used to infer the pre-injection O-isotope composition of the disk. The result suggested that a supernova undergoing mixing fallback might be a viable source for the three radionuclides.