Helium and neon abundances and compositions in cometary matter

Bernard Marty1, Russell L Palma, Robert O Pepin

  • 1Centre de Recherches Pétrographiques et Géochimiques, Nancy Université, BP 20, 54501 Vandoeuvre-lès-Nancy Cedex, France.

Science (New York, N.Y.)
|January 5, 2008
PubMed
Summary

Noble gases in comet 81P/Wild 2, captured by Stardust, suggest early solar system origins. These primitive gases, found in igneous grains, indicate formation near the young Sun in a high-energy environment.

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