-
- SH21E-2547: Measuring Olivine Elemental Ratios with Impact Ionization Dust Instruments
-
Board 2547‚ Hall EFG (Poster Hall)NOLA CC
Author(s):Generic 'disconnected' Message
Ethan Ayari, University of Colorado at Boulder (First Author, Presenting Author)
Mihaly Horanyi, University of Colorado
Zoltan Sternovsky, University of Colorado
Jamey Szalay, Princeton University
Rebecca Mikula, University of Colorado at Boulder
Neal Turner, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology
We present laboratory measurements that validate the ability of impact ionization mass spectrometers to measure the composition of dust particles in space. We used olivine, a common silicate mineral, as our test material. Its elemental composition was first measured using x-ray spectroscopy, showing low variation from grain to grain. We then ground the olivine into small particles, coated them with platinum, and accelerated them to high speeds using a dust accelerator. These particles struck a new type of mass spectrometer called Hyperdust. By comparing the resulting mass spectra with our original x-ray measurements, we found that elemental ratios such as iron to silicon and magnesium to silicon matched very well. The mass spectra also showed isotopic peaks in the correct proportions for each element, confirming that the instrument can resolve isotopic abundances during high-speed impacts. These results demonstrate that Hyperdust and similar instruments can reliably distinguish olivine from other types of cosmic dust. This work supports the use of impact ionization instruments on missions like IMAP, Europa Clipper, and Destiny Plus, which aim to analyze cosmic dust particles to learn about their origins .
Scientific DisciplineNeighborhoodType
Enter Note
Go to previous page in this tab
Session
