Origin of Uranium Isotope Variations in Early Solar Nebula Condensates (1 of 2) (IMAGE)

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Origin of Uranium Isotope Variations in Early Solar Nebula Condensates (1 of 2)

Caption

A close-up picture of a ceramic-like refractory inclusion (pink inclusion) still embedded into the meteorite in which it was found. Refractory inclusions are the oldest known rocks in the solar system (4.567 billion years old). Analysis of the uranium isotope ratios of such inclusions demonstrates that a long-lived isotope of radioactive element curium was present in the solar system when this inclusion was formed. The inclusion is 1.5 cm in length. This material relates to a paper that appeared in the March 4, 2016, issue of Science, published by AAAS. The paper, by F.L.H. Tissot at the University of Chicago in Chicago, IL, and colleagues was titled, 'Origin of uranium isotope variations in early solar nebula condensates.'

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Origins Lab

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