National Center for Scientific Research - 10 May 2010
Extreme Deuterium Excesses in Ultracarbonaceous Micrometeorites from Central Antarctic SnowA new family of extraterrestrial particles, probably of cometary origin, has been identified for the first time in snow in Central Antarctica. Discovered by researchers from the Center for Nuclear Spectrometry and Mass Spectrometry (CSNSM) (CNRS/Université Paris-Sud 11), attached to IN2P3(1), the micrometeorites, which are remarkably well preserved, are made up of organic matter containing small assemblages of minerals from the coldest and most remote regions of the Solar System. This work is published in the journal Science.
Comets are made up of a mixture of icy materials and dust. Occasionally, some of them enter the inner Solar System. When they pass near the Sun, the rise in temperature causes massive sublimation of the icy materials, leading to an ejection of a mixture of gases and cometary grains into interplanetary space. Some dust grains may cross Earth's orbit as they drift towards the Sun, where most of them finish their journey. It is probably some of these cometary grains that the CSNS scientists discovered in Antarctica.
- Science 7 May 2010: Vol. 328. no. 5979, pp. 742 - 745: DOI: 10.1126/science.1184832