Evidence for interstellar origin of seven dust particles collected by the Stardust spacecraft

A. J. Westphal(University of California, Berkeley), R. M. Stroud(United States Naval Research Laboratory), Hans A. Bechtel(Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory), Frank E. Brenker(Goethe University Frankfurt), A. L. Butterworth(University of California, Berkeley), G. J. Flynn(State University of New York), D. Frank(Johnson Space Center), Z. Gainsforth(University of California, Berkeley), Jon K. Hillier(Heidelberg University), Frank Postberg(Heidelberg University), M. Steck(Institut des Sciences de la Terre), Veerle Sterken(University of Stuttgart), Larry R. Nittler(Carnegie Institution for Science), Carlton Allen(Nanomaterials Research (United States)), David Anderson(University of California, Berkeley), Asna Ansari(Field Museum of Natural History), S. Bajt(Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY), Ron K. Bastien(Johnson Space Center), Nabil Bassim(United States Naval Research Laboratory), John Bridges(University of Leicester), D. E. Brownlee(University of Washington), M. J. Burchell(University of Kent), Manfred Burghammer(Ghent University Hospital), Hitesh Changela, Peter Cloetens(European Synchrotron Radiation Facility), A. M. Davis(University of Illinois Chicago), Ryan Doll(Washington University in St. Louis), C. Floss(Washington University in St. Louis), Eberhard Grün(Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics), P. R. Heck(International Space Science Institute), P. Höppe(Max Planck Institute for Chemistry), Bruce S. Hudson(Williams & Associates), J. Huth(Max Planck Institute for Chemistry), A. T. Kearsley(Natural History Museum), A. J. King(University of Illinois Chicago), Barry Lai(Argonne National Laboratory), J. Leitner(Max Planck Institute for Chemistry), Laurence Lemelle(École Normale Supérieure de Lyon), Ariel Leonard(Washington University in St. Louis), Hugues Leroux(Université de Lille), R. Lettieri(University of California, Berkeley), W. Marchant(University of California, Berkeley), R. C. Ogliore(University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa), Wei Jia Ong(Washington University in St. Louis), M. C. Price(University of Kent), Scott A. Sandford(Ames Research Center), Juan-Angel Sans Tresseras(European Synchrotron Radiation Facility), S. Schmitz(Goethe University Frankfurt), Tom Schoonjans(Ghent University Hospital), K. Schreiber(Washington University in St. Louis), Geert Silversmit(Ghent University Hospital), Vicente Armando Solé(European Synchrotron Radiation Facility), R. Srama(University of Stuttgart), F. J. Stadermann(Washington University in St. Louis), T. Stephan(University of Illinois Chicago), Julien Stodolna(University of California, Berkeley), S. R. Sutton(Argonne National Laboratory), M. Trieloff(Heidelberg University), P. Tsou(Jet Propulsion Laboratory), Tolek Tyliszczak(Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory), Bart Vekemans(Ghent University Hospital), László Vincze(Ghent University Hospital), Joshua Von Korff(University of California, Berkeley), Naomi Wordsworth(Wexham Park Hospital), Daniel Zevin(University of California, Berkeley), M. E. Zolensky(Nanomaterials Research (United States)), 30714 Stardust@home dusters
Science
August 14, 2014
10.1126/science.1252496
Cited by 198Open Access
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Abstract

Seven particles captured by the Stardust Interstellar Dust Collector and returned to Earth for laboratory analysis have features consistent with an origin in the contemporary interstellar dust stream. More than 50 spacecraft debris particles were also identified. The interstellar dust candidates are readily distinguished from debris impacts on the basis of elemental composition and/or impact trajectory. The seven candidate interstellar particles are diverse in elemental composition, crystal structure, and size. The presence of crystalline grains and multiple iron-bearing phases, including sulfide, in some particles indicates that individual interstellar particles diverge from any one representative model of interstellar dust inferred from astronomical observations and theory.

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