Illustration and Composition of the Startdust Grain (IMAGE)

University of Toronto Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering

Illustration and Composition of the Startdust Grain

Caption

A team of researchers found a grain of stardust (inset image) that survived the formation of our solar system and analyzed it with instruments sensitive enough to identify single atoms. Measuring one 25,000th of an inch, the carbon-rich graphite grain (red) revealed an embedded speck of oxygen-rich material (blue), two types of stardust that were thought could not form in the same nova eruption.

Credit

Illustration: University of Arizona/Heather Roper

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