Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 14, 2026

Investigation of Early Plasma Evolution Induced by Ultrashort Laser Pulses
Published on: July 2, 2012
Evidence for a late supernova injection of 60Fe into the protoplanetary disk
Martin Bizzarro1, David Ulfbeck, Anne Trinquier
1Geological Institute, University of Copenhagen, Øster Voldgade 10, DK-1350, Denmark. bizzarro@geol.ku.dk
Abstract:
High-precision 60Fe-60Ni isotope data show that most meteorites originating from differentiated planetesimals that accreted within 1 million years of the solar system's formation have 60Ni/58Ni ratios that are approximately 25 parts per million lower than samples from Earth, Mars, and chondrite parent bodies. This difference indicates that the oldest solar system planetesimals formed in the absence of 60Fe. Evidence for live 60Fe in younger objects suggests that 60Fe was injected into the protoplanetary disk approximately 1 million years after solar system formation, when 26Al was already homogeneously distributed. Decoupling the first appearance of 26Al and 60Fe constrains the environment where the Sun's formation could have taken place, indicating that it occurred in a dense stellar cluster in association with numerous massive stars.
Related Concept Videos
Detection of Black Holes
Their closest cousins are neutron stars, which are composed almost entirely of neutrons packed against each other, making them extremely dense. A neutron star has the same mass as the Sun but its diameter is only a few kilometers. Therefore, the escape velocity from their surface is close to the speed of light.
Not until the 1960s, when the first neutron...
Nuclear Fusion
A helium nucleus has a mass that is 0.7% less than that of four hydrogen nuclei; this lost mass is converted into energy during the fusion. This reaction produces about...
Nuclear Transmutation
Kepler's First Law of Planetary Motion
Polish astronomer Nikolaus Copernicus put forth a theory that stated a heliocentric model for the solar system. According to this heliocentric theory, all the planets, including Earth, orbit the Sun in circular orbits.
On the other hand,...
Emission Spectra
Atomic Emission Spectroscopy: Interference

