Giovedì 19 settembre 2019, ore 11:00

Osservatorio Astrofisico di Torino, Sala Seminari di Villa Magliola

60Fe in the early solar system

Prof. Andrew M. Davis

Department of the Geophysical Sciences, Enrico Fermi Institute, and Chicago Center for Cosmochemistry, University of Chicago

Abstract

There has been a controversy about how much 60Fe was present at the birth of the solar system. Spot analyses of individual minerals in meteorites indicate high values of 60Fe/56Fe of a few times 10^(-7), suggesting that a supernova explosion preceded and might have triggered solar system formation. On the other hand, analyses of bulk samples of meteorites indicate a low 60Fe/56Fe of ~10^(-8), more similar to galactic background values. I will describe measurements made by a new technique, resonance ionization mass spectrometry, that have resolved this issue in favor of the lower value.