ERC Grantee's findings lead story in Science

24 June 2011

It presents analyses made on samples of the sun, which were collected in 2004 by the NASA mission Genesis. The results show that nitrogen molecules originating from the sun are very different from the nitrogen found on the Earth, Mars and on meteorites; they contain far less 15N "heavy" isotopes.
Understanding why molecules from planets of the inner solar system are so enriched in heavy isotopes in comparison with molecules from the sun's photosphere, whose composition represents the bulk of the solar system, may be one of the challenges of future studies in cosmo-chemistry.

Cover image of ERC Grantee's findings lead story in Science

It presents analyses made on samples of the sun, which were collected in 2004 by the NASA mission Genesis. The results show that nitrogen molecules originating from the sun are very different from the nitrogen found on the Earth, Mars and on meteorites; they contain far less 15N "heavy" isotopes.
Understanding why molecules from planets of the inner solar system are so enriched in heavy isotopes in comparison with molecules from the sun's photosphere, whose composition represents the bulk of the solar system, may be one of the challenges of future studies in cosmo-chemistry.

The NASA Genesis mission came back to Earth in 2004. Despite a dramatic landing in the Utah desert, USA, particles of sun winds could be collected and analysed by some laboratories, including by Prof. Marty. The main objective of the NASA mission was to determine the composition of the sun's oxygen and nitrogen isotopes, which are particularly difficult to analyse as they are present in very low quantities and researchers need to extract them from the Genesis solar wind collectors' structure at a depth of around 50 nanometres.
Following the installation a new measurement device known as ion microprobe in their laboratory at the end of 2009, Prof. Marty repeated with Marc Chaussidon the analyses on some fragments to determine the isotopic composition of their nitrogen.

The results published this week confirm previous inferences by Prof. Marty: solar wind nitrogen contains 40% less 15N heavy isotopes, in comparison to the nitrogen found on Earth. In parallel, an American team found that the solar wind oxygen also contains less heavy isotopes than the oxygen found on Earth. These results are published in the same issue of Science.Science cover photo
The Genesis Concentrator target (6 centimetres in diameter), bearing atoms from the solar wind, is disentangled from its support frame and wire mesh following the crash of the sample return capsule in the Utah desert in 2004. Analyses of an unbroken silicon carbide quadrant (top) reveal the initial oxygen and nitrogen isotopic compositions of the solar system, which are distinctly different from terrestrial isotopic compositions. See pages 1528 and 1533.
Credit: Image: NASA Genesis Team

Publication reference
A 15N-poor isotopic composition for the Solar System as shown by the Genesis solar wind samples.
MARTY B., CHAUSSIDON M., Wiens R. C., Jurewicz A. J. G., Burnett D.S.
Science 24 June 2011: Vol. 332, no. 6037, pp. 1533-1536, DOI: 10.1126/science.1204656
Dr. Chaussidon's ERC-funded project CEMYSS aims to make decisive progress on our understanding of the formation and early development of the sun and solar system. The team focuses on the chemical composition of extra terrestrial matters, more specifically on measuring and exploring the variations in the isotopic composition of oxygen and magnesium molecules in the different components of meteorites.


Prof. Marty's ERC-funded project NOGAT will develop a high precision analysis technique for noble gases, which are key tracers of the atmospheric evolution from 3.8 Giga years ago to present. The objective is to better understand the early evolution of our planet habitability and to improve our knowledge of fluxes of volatile elements triggering climate change.

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