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Interstellar Material in Meteorites

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Formation and Evolution of Solids in Space

Part of the book series: NATO ASI Series ((ASIC,volume 523))

Abstract

Many primitive meteorites contain traces of presolar material in the form of mineral grains which were formed in a variety of stellar objects before formation of the Solar System. Most such grains identified to date are carbonaceous: diamond, SiC, and graphite; but some are oxides such as corundum. Chemical, isotopic and physical properties of the presolar grains have yielded information about nucleosynthesis and grain formation in certain stellar objects, such as AGB stars, supernovae and novae, and about chemical evolution in the Galaxy. Some primitive meteorites also contain organic matter apparently synthesised abiotically in an asteroidal environment from precursor molecules derived from interstellar clouds.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, UCSD, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA

    John F. Kerridge

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  1. Laboratory Astrophysics, University of Leiden, Leiden, The Netherlands

    J. Mayo Greenberg  & Aigen Li  & 

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Kerridge, J.F. (1999). Interstellar Material in Meteorites. In: Greenberg, J.M., Li, A. (eds) Formation and Evolution of Solids in Space. NATO ASI Series, vol 523. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-4806-1_27

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-4806-1_27

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