image: This is a false-color, detailed, backscattered electron picture of an aluminum-rich chondrule from the Semarkona chondrite (Green: glass. Purple: high-calcium pyroxene). This kind of chondrule is rare and is richer in calcium and aluminum than usually expected in chondrules. The dendritic texture of the high-calcium pyroxene is the consequence of fast crystallization processes. 26Al-26Mg systematic in this chondrule gives an age of formation younger than one million years after the first refractory inclusions condensed in the solar nebula. It is the oldest glass formed in the solar system ever dated. The crater was created by oxygen ion bombardments during the ion microprobe analysis. Width: 60 micrometers. This image relates to an article that appeared in the Aug. 21, 2009, issue of Science, published by AAAS. The study, by Dr. Johan Villeneuve of CNRS and Nancy Université and colleagues, was titled, "Homogeneous Distribution of 26Al in the Solar System from the Mg Isotopic Composition of Chondrules." view more
Credit: Image © <i>Science</i>/AAAS