Formation Of The Solar System Research Articles

Ultraviolet Spectroscopy of Lucy Mission Targets with the Hubble Space Telescope

The recently launched Lucy mission aims to understand the dynamical history of the solar system by examining the Jupiter Trojans, a population of primitive asteroids co-orbital with Jupiter. Using the G280 grism on the Hubble Space Telescope’s Wide Field Camera 3, we obtained near-ultraviolet spectra of four of the five Lucy mission targets—(617) Patroclus–Menoetius, (11351) Leucus, (3548) Eurybates, and (21900) Orus—to search for novel spectral features. We observe a local reflectance minimum at 0.4 μm accompanied by an increase in reflectance from 0.35 to 0.3 μm in the spectra of Patroclus and Orus. We use the principles of Rayleigh scattering and geometric optics to develop a Hapke optical model to investigate whether this feature can be explained by the presence of submicroscopic grains on Trojan surfaces. The near-ultraviolet “bump” feature can be explained by scattering due to fine-grained opaques (iron, amorphous carbon, or graphite) with grain sizes ranging from 20 to 80 nm.

Effect of Impact Velocity and Angle on Deformational Heating and Postimpact Temperature

AbstractThe record of impact‐induced shock heating in meteorites is an important key for understanding the collisional history of the solar system. Material strength is important for impact heating, but the effect of impact angle and impact velocity on shear heating remains poorly understood. Here, we report three‐dimensional oblique impact simulations, which confirm the enhanced heating due to material strength and explore the effects of impact angle and impact velocity. We find that oblique impacts with an impact angle that is steeper than 45‐degrees produce a similar amount of heated mass as vertical impacts. On the other hand, grazing impacts produce less heated mass and smaller heated regions compared to impacts at steeper angles. We derive an empirical formula of the heated mass, as a function of the impact angle and velocity. This formula can be used to estimate the impact conditions (velocity and angle) that occurred and caused Ar loss in the meteoritic parent bodies. Furthermore, our results indicate that grazing impacts at higher impact velocities could generate a similar amount of heated material as vertical impacts at lower velocities. As the heated material produced by grazing impacts has experienced lower pressure than the material heated by vertical impacts, our results imply that grazing impacts may produce weakly shock‐heated meteorites.

Short-Lived Nuclides in the Early Solar System: Abundances, Origins, and Applications

Several short-lived radionuclides (SLRs) were present in the first few million years of Solar System history. Their abundances have profound impact on the timing of stellar nucleosynthesis events prior to Solar System formation, chronology of events in the early Solar System, early solar activity, heating of early-formed planetesimals, and chronology of planet formation. Isotopic analytical techniques have undergone dramatic improvements in the past decade, leading to tighter constraints on the levels of SLRs in the early Solar System and on the use of these nuclides for detailed chronological studies. This review emphasizes the abundances of SLRs when the Solar System formed and how we know them, and briefly discusses the origins of these nuclides and applications in planetary science.

Role of low-lying resonances for the Be10(p,α)Li7 reaction rate and implications for the formation of the Solar System

Evidence for the presence of short-lived radioactive isotopes when the Solar System formed is preserved in meteorites, providing insights into the conditions at the birth of our Sun. A low-mass core-collapse supernova had been postulated as a candidate for the origin of $^{10}$Be, reinforcing the idea that a supernova triggered the formation of the Solar System. We present a detailed study of the production of $^{10}$Be by the $\nu$ process in supernovae, which is very sensitive to the reaction rate of the major destruction channel, $^{10}$Be(p,$\alpha$)$^{7}$Li. With data from recent nuclear experiments that show the presence of a resonant state in $^{11}$B at $\approx$~193 keV, we derive new values for the $^{10}$Be(p,$\alpha$)$^{7}$Li reaction rate which are significantly higher than previous estimates. We show that, with the new $^{10}$Be(p,$\alpha$)$^{7}$Li reaction rate, a low mass CCSN is unlikely to produce enough $^{10}$Be to explain the observed $^{10}$Be/ $^{9}$Be ratio in meteorites, even for a wide range of neutrino spectra considered in our models. These findings point towards spallation reactions induced by solar energetic particles in the early Solar System as the origin of $^{10}$Be.

Radiogenic chromium isotope evidence for the earliest planetary volcanism and crust formation in the Solar system

ABSTRACT Erg Chech (EC) 002 is a meteorite with andesitic composition, potentially recording the lava crystallization and crust formation of its parent body. Nucleosynthetic Cr isotope composition (ε54Cr = −0.35 ± 0.06) for EC 002 suggests a non-carbonaceous region of the Solar system, and possibly represents the crustal composition of the brachinite parent body. The 53Mn-to-53Cr decay system shows it crystallized at 4566.6 ± 0.6 Ma, i.e. 0.7 ± 0.6 Ma after Solar system formation (only considering the cogenetic matrix fractions with similar ε54Cr values). This age represents the earliest recorded evidence for planetary melting and volcanism in the Solar system, suggesting that the planetary crust formation occurred very early, only within the first few hundred thousand years of Solar system history. However, the 53Mn–53Cr age does not overlap with 26Al–26Mg dating results, which might indicate that non-carbonaceous achondrites have lower initial 26Al/27Al than the canonical value defined by refractory inclusions in carbonaceous chondrites.

Slow Neutron-Capture Process: Low-Mass Asymptotic Giant Branch Stars and Presolar Silicon Carbide Grains

Presolar grains are microscopic dust grains that formed in the stellar winds or explosions of ancient stars that died before the formation of the solar system. The majority (~90% in number) of presolar silicon carbide (SiC) grains, including types mainstream (MS), Y, and Z, came from low-mass C-rich asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars, which is supported by the ubiquitous presence of SiC dust observed in the circumstellar envelope of AGB stars and the signatures of slow neutron-capture process preserved in these grains. Here, we review the status of isotope studies of presolar AGB SiC grains with an emphasis on heavy element isotopes and highlight the importance of presolar grain studies for nuclear astrophysics. We discuss the sensitives of different types of nuclei to varying AGB stellar parameters and how their abundances in presolar AGB SiC grains can be used to provide independent, detailed constraints on stellar parameters, including 13C formation, stellar temperature, and nuclear reaction rates.

Origin of Plutonium-244 in the Early Solar System

We investigate the origin in the early Solar System of the short-lived radionuclide 244Pu (with a half life of 80 Myr) produced by the rapid (r) neutron-capture process. We consider two large sets of r-process nucleosynthesis models and analyse if the origin of 244Pu in the ESS is consistent with that of the other r and slow (s) neutron-capture process radioactive nuclei. Uncertainties on the r-process models come from both the nuclear physics input and the astrophysical site. The former strongly affects the ratios of isotopes of close mass (129I/127I, 244Pu/238U, and 247Pu/235U). The 129I/247Cm ratio, instead, which involves isotopes of a very different mass, is much more variable than those listed above and is more affected by the physics of the astrophysical site. We consider possible scenarios for the evolution of the abundances of these radioactive nuclei in the galactic interstellar medium and verify under which scenarios and conditions solutions can be found for the origin of 244Pu that are consistent with the origin of the other isotopes. Solutions are generally found for all the possible different regimes controlled by the interval (δ) between additions from the source to the parcel of interstellar medium gas that ended up in the Solar System, relative to decay timescales. If r-process ejecta in interstellar medium are mixed within a relatively small area (leading to a long δ), we derive that the last event that explains the 129I and 247Cm abundances in the early Solar System can also account for the abundance of 244Pu. Due to its longer half life, however, 244Pu may have originated from a few events instead of one only. If r-process ejecta in interstellar medium are mixed within a relatively large area (leading to a short δ), we derive that the time elapsed from the formation of the molecular cloud to the formation of the Sun was 9-16 Myr.

Cosmological expansion in the Solar System

In accepted theory, Hubble expansion only operates at the largest scales, i.e., the inter-galactic level. However, this is a theoretical conclusion, which can be rebutted with other theoretical considerations. More significantly, increasing observational data and other evidence, particularly within the Solar System, point to universal expansion operating on all scales where gravitation, as opposed to electronic interaction, is the dominant force. Local Hubble flow has implications for current theories of tidal drag as well as both the early evolution of the Solar System and its long-term future. Expansion is also expected to operate on the structure of galaxies, but it is unclear whether this has any impact on the dark matter problem.

Nickel-rich, volatile depleted iron meteorites: Relationships and formation processes

Ungrouped iron meteorites Tishomingo, Willow Grove, and Chinga, and group IVB iron meteorites, are Ni-rich. Similarities include enrichments of 10–100 × CI for some refractory siderophile elements, and equivalent depletions in more volatile siderophile elements. Superimposed on the overall enrichment/depletion trend, certain siderophile elements (P, W, Fe, Mo) are depleted relative to elements of similar volatility. All three ungrouped irons derive from parent bodies formed in the early Solar System. Willow Grove and Chinga are characterized by cosmic ray exposure corrected 182W/184W consistent with metal-silicate segregation on their parent bodies within 1–3 Myr of Solar System formation, within the age range determined for segregation of magmatic iron meteorite parent bodies, including group IVB irons. Tishomingo is characterized by a younger model age 4–5 Myr subsequent to Solar System formation, reflecting either late stage melting resulting from 26Al decay, or an impact resetting. The discovery of stishovite in Tishomingo, indicating exposure to a minimum shock pressure of 8–9 GPa, is consistent with the latter.Stishovite in Tishomingo and chromite included in troilite-daubréelite in IVB irons allows oxygen isotopic composition comparison between these meteorites. Different mass independent oxygen isotopic compositions of IVB irons and Tishomingo indicate genetically distinct parent bodies. By contrast, mass independent Mo isotopic compositions overlap within analytical uncertainties, indicating a similar, carbonaceous chondrite (CC) type genetic heritage. Molybdenum and 183W isotopic data for Chinga and Willow Grove indicate derivation from CC type parent bodies. Willow Grove shares Mo and 183W isotopic compositions with the Ni-rich South Byron Trio (SBT) grouplet and the Milton pallasite. These Ni-rich meteorites likely formed in the same general nebular environment as other CC planetesimals, likely the outer Solar System.Highly siderophile element (HSE) abundances of Willow Grove and Tishomingo are similar to some IVB meteorites, consistent with formation by moderate degrees of fractional crystallization from initial metallic melts with low S and P, and modestly fractionated HSE. The comparable HSE abundances of Tishomingo and Willow Grove to some IVB irons, yet substantially higher Ni concentrations, indicate formation on parent bodies with lower bulk HSE abundances or HSE concentration in proportionally smaller volumes of metal. HSE abundances in Chinga are considerably lower than in IVB irons, highly fractionated, and processes responsible for these remain elusive.For IVB irons and these ungrouped irons, high temperature condensation likely dominated the enrichment and depletion of the refractory and volatile siderophile elements, respectively. Parent body degassing may have also played a role. Relative depletion of volatile siderophile elements is not, however, a universal feature of high-Ni meteorites. The SBT and Milton pallasite are Ni-rich, but less depleted in the more volatile siderophile elements. Nickel enrichment was likely driven by oxidation of Fe metal during parent body accretion or core segregation. Oxidation of the Tishomingo and Willow Grove parent bodies may have occurred at ∼ IW + 1, indicated by relative Mo and W depletions due to metal/water reaction during differentiation. Late-stage reduction, indicated by the presence of Cr-bearing sulfides in Tishomingo and IVB irons, may have resulted from exhaustion of the oxidant.

A Review of the Lunar 182Hf-182W Isotope System Research

In recent years, the extinct nuclide 182Hf-182W system has been developed as an essential tool to date and trace the lunar origin and evolution. Despite a series of achievements, controversies and problems exist. As a review, this paper details the application principles of the 182Hf-182W isotope system and summarizes the research development on W isotopes of the Moon. A significant radiogenic ε182W excess of 0.24 ± 0.01 was found in the lunar mantle, leading to heated debates. There are three main explanations for the origin of the excess, including (1) radioactive origin; (2) the mantle of the Moon-forming impactor; and (3) disproportional late accretion to the Earth and the Moon. Debates on these explanations have revealed different views on lunar age. The reported ages of the Moon are mainly divided into two views: an early Moon (30–70 Ma after the solar system formation); and a late Moon (>70 Ma after the solar system formation). This paper discusses the possible effects on lunar 182W composition, including the Moon-forming impactor, late veneer, and Oceanus Procellarum-forming projectile. Finally, the unexpected isotopic similarities between the Earth and Moon are discussed.

The Identification of Impact Craters from GRAIL-Acquired Gravity Data by U-Net Architecture

The identification of impact craters on the Moon and other planetary bodies is of great significance to studying and constraining the dynamical process and evolution of the Solar System. Traditionally, this has been performed through the visual examination of images. Due to the effect of overburden, some structural features cannot be effectively identified from optical images, resulting in limitations in the scope, efficiency and accuracy of identification. In this paper, we investigate the viability of convolutional neural networks (CNNs) to perform the detection of impact craters from GRAIL-acquired gravity data. The ideal values of each hyperparameter in U-net architecture are determined after dozens of iterations of model training, testing and evaluation. The final model was evaluated by the Loss function with the low value of 0.04, indicating that the predicted output of the model reached a relatively high fitting degree with the prior labelled output. The comparative results with different methods show that the proposed method has a clear detection of the target features, with an accuracy of more than 80%. In addition, the detection results of the whole image account for 83% of the number of manually delineated gravity anomalies. The proposed method can still achieve the same quality for the identification of the gravity anomalies caused by impact craters under the condition that the resolution of GRAIL gravity data are not superior. Our results demonstrate that the U-net architecture can be a very effective tool for the rapid and automatic identification of impact craters from gravity map on the Moon, as well as other Solar System bodies.

Dynamical evolution of a self-gravitating planetesimal disk in the distant trans-Neptunian region

Aims. We study the dynamical evolution of a system consisting of the giant planets and a massive planetesimal disk over the age of the Solar System. The main question addressed in this study is whether distant trans-Neptunian objects could have come about as a result of the combined action of planetary perturbations and the self-gravity of the disk. Methods. We carried out a series of full N-body numerical simulations of gravitational interactions between the giant planets and a massive outer disk of planetesimals. Results. Our simulations show that the collective gravity of the giant planets and massive planetesimals produces distant trans-Neptunian objects across a wide range of the initial disk mass. The majority of objects that survive up through the age of the Solar System have perihelion distances of q > 40 au. In this region, there is a tendency toward a slow decrease in eccentricities and an increase in perihelion distances for objects with semimajor axes a > 150 au. Secular resonances between distant planetesimals play a major role in increasing their perihelion distances. This explains the origin of Sedna-type objects. In our integrations for the age of the Solar System, we registered times with both high and low clustering of longitudes of perihelion and arguments of perihelion for objects with q > 40 au, a > 150 au. The resulting distribution of inclinations in our model and the observed distribution of inclinations for distant trans-Neptunian objects have similar average values of around 20°. Conclusions. Distant trans-Neptunian objects are a natural consequence in the models that include migrating giant planets and a self-gravitating planetesimal disk.

We Drink Good 4.5-Billion-Year-Old Water

Water is crucial for the emergence and evolution of life on Earth. Recent studies of the water content in early forming planetary systems similar to our own show that water is an abundant and ubiquitous molecule, initially synthesized on the surfaces of tiny interstellar dust grains by the hydrogenation of frozen oxygen. Water then enters a cycle of sublimation/freezing throughout the successive phases of planetary system formation, namely, hot corinos and protoplanetary disks, eventually to be incorporated into planets, asteroids, and comets. The amount of heavy water measured on Earth and in early forming planetary systems suggests that a substantial fraction of terrestrial water was inherited from the very first phases of the Solar System formation and is 4.5 billion years old.

New Gravity Theory of Physics

According to “NEW GRAVITY THEORY OF PHYSICS” neither Earth held the atmosphere nor atmosphere held the Earth instead the Earth itself entangled in atmosphere because the way it was formed. Due to the atmospheric force all bodies fall on Earth. This theory successfully explains the Earth’s gravity (in fact, it explains all planet’s gravity), planet’s rotation, planets tilt, and Solar System formation. In future it may have wider applications

A Review of Research on Grove Mountains CM-Type Chondrites

CM chondrite is the most important carbonaceous chondrite containing abundant Ca, Al-rich inclusions (CAIs) and other interesting objects, which probably experienced early condensation processes in the Solar Nebula environment and later alteration in parent body surroundings. Thus, it is a vital raw material to explore in the formation and evolution of the early Solar System. Grove Mountains (GRV) CM chondrites have been collected from Antarctica by Chinese Antarctic Research Expedition (CARE) for nearly 20 years. In this paper, we review the study of GRV CM chondrites. In total, there are eight CM chondrites named Grove Mountains officially approved by the Meteoritical Society. Petrology and mineral, matrix, CAIs, metal and sulfide in GRV CM chondrites are carefully reviewed. All the meteorites have similar characteristics with a dominant component of matrix. Phyllosilicate minerals generally developed in the matrix. The different altered mineral assemblages, contents and chemical compositions show that these chondrites underwent varying degrees of aqueous alteration, of which GRV 020005 is the most heavily altered CM chondrite. GRV 020025 is the second heaviest of the CM samples with the most extensive studies among these chondrites. It contains abundant CAIs and amoeboid olivine aggregates (AOAs). The modal content is about 1.0 vol% for CAIs. The findings of some new types of CAIs (such as hibonite-rich and spinel-pyroxene inclusions with forsterite-rich accretionary rims), AOAs and a complex, fine-grained P-bearing sulfide phase enrich the study of GRV 020025.

A Collision Mechanism for the Removal of Earth's Trojan Asteroids

Due to their strong resonances with their host planet, Trojan asteroids can remain in stable orbits for billions of years. As a result, they are powerful probes for constraining the dynamical and chemical history of the solar system. Although we have detected thousands of Jupiter Trojans and dozens of Neptune Trojans, there are currently no known long-term stable Earth Trojans (ETs). Dynamical simulations show that the parameter space for stable ETs is substantial, so their apparent absence poses a mystery. This work uses a large ensemble of N-body simulations to explore how the Trojan population dynamically responds if Earth suffers large collisions, such as those thought to have occurred to form the Moon and/or to have given Earth its late veneer. We show that such collisions can be highly disruptive to the primordial Trojan population, and could have eliminated it altogether. More specifically, if Earth acquired the final 1% of its mass through collisions, then only ∼1% of the previously bound Trojan population would remain.

The formation of Haumea and its family via binary merging

Dozens of families of asteroids in the asteroid belt have similar orbits and compositions because they formed through a collision. However, the icy debris beyond the orbit of Neptune, called the Kuiper Belt, contains only one known family, the Haumea family. So far, no self-consistent explanation for the formation of the Haumea family can match all geophysical and orbital characteristics of the family without invoking extremely improbable events. Here, we show that the family is adequately explained as the product of a merging binary near the end of Neptune’s orbital migration. The unique orbital signature of a merging binary, which was not found in extensive searches, is effectively erased during the final stages of migration, providing an explanation for all aspects of the Haumea family. By placing the formation of the Haumea family in the broader context of solar system formation, we demonstrate a proof-of-concept model for the formation of Haumea.

Identifying the wide diversity of extraterrestrial purine and pyrimidine nucleobases in carbonaceous meteorites

The lack of pyrimidine diversity in meteorites remains a mystery since prebiotic chemical models and laboratory experiments have predicted that these compounds can also be produced from chemical precursors found in meteorites. Here we report the detection of nucleobases in three carbonaceous meteorites using state-of-the-art analytical techniques optimized for small-scale quantification of nucleobases down to the range of parts per trillion (ppt). In addition to previously detected purine nucleobases in meteorites such as guanine and adenine, we identify various pyrimidine nucleobases such as cytosine, uracil, and thymine, and their structural isomers such as isocytosine, imidazole-4-carboxylic acid, and 6-methyluracil, respectively. Given the similarity in the molecular distribution of pyrimidines in meteorites and those in photon-processed interstellar ice analogues, some of these derivatives could have been generated by photochemical reactions prevailing in the interstellar medium and later incorporated into asteroids during solar system formation. This study demonstrates that a diversity of meteoritic nucleobases could serve as building blocks of DNA and RNA on the early Earth.

James W. Truran (1940–2022)

Truran made far-reaching contributions to the theory of nuclear reactions, stellar nucleosynthesis, big bang nucleosynthesis, stellar abundances, solar system formation, galaxy formation and galactic chemical evolution.

“The ice-organic-silicate contents of small solar system bodies: indicators for a comet to asteroid evolutionary pathway”

ABSTRACT Comets and asteroids have traditionally been separated categories, but main belt comets skew this view, portraying a possible intermediate stage between these two endmembers. Investigating the relationship between these bodies can improve our understanding of the formation and evolution of the Solar System and help to identify potentially interesting parent bodies from within our solar system, for future sample return missions. Furthermore, elucidating the ice-organic-silicate ratios of potential meteorite parent bodies can help to explain the observed isotopic ratios and petrography of meteorite samples. While the ice-organic-silicate ratios of particular bodies have been estimated, there has been no study undertaken which compares different types of bodies in terms of their ice-organic-silicate ratios. Therefore, this study presents a geophysical-chemical mass balance model, to estimate the ice-organic-silicate ratios of comets, main belt comets and asteroids. The results drawn from the model form a diagonal trend upon an ice-organic-silicate ternary diagram, in which comets and main belt comets plot together at generally higher ice contents, with asteroids typically plotting at lower ice contents. However, an overlap between all three body types is observed and supports the scenario in which comets, main belt comets and asteroids are genetically linked.