News

Researchers Trace Dust Grain's Journey Through Newborn Solar System

June 21, 2021

Combining atomic-scale sample analysis and models simulating likely conditions in the nascent solar system, a new study reveals clues about the origin of crystals that formed more than 4.5 billion years ago.

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Hitachi Electron Microscopy Scholarship

June 1, 2021

Congratulations to Abhinav Nishant and Laura Seifert, recipients of the Hitachi Electron Microscopy Scholarship for 2021/2022. Hitachi High Technologies established this award as part of their partnership with the University of Arizona in support of the Kuiper Materials Imaging and Characterization Facility.

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$2M Gift Advances UArizona Space Science Initiatives

May 25, 2021

The gift will enable the purchase of a nanoscale secondary ion mass spectrometer, an instrument the OSIRIS-REx analysis team will use to help find answers to fundamental questions about the origins of the solar system.

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Bennu in the sky, on the canvas and (soon) in Zoe Zeszut's hands

May 17, 2021

Bennu is almost always on Zoe Zeszut's mind. Her career at the University has revolved around the OSIRIS-REx mission. Her hobbies have, too.

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Mysteries Behind Interstellar Buckyballs Finally Answered

Nov. 13, 2019

Mimicking conditions thought to exist around dying stars, researchers discovered a mechanism that could explain why planetary nebulae are teeming with complex carbon molecules.

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An artist's conception showing spherical carbon molecules known as buckyballs coming out from a plan

The Origins of Buckyballs in Space

Oct. 24, 2019

The spectroscopic fingerprints of buckyballs have been observed in space, but questions remain about how these large molecules form. Laboratory experiments have revealed a possible mechanism.

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| Evidence of a mechanism for the formation of buckminsterfullerene in space.

Clues to the Processing of Dust around Stars

Sept. 27, 2019

In the laboratory, a team of scientists supported in part by the NASA Astrobiology Program have studied simulated presolar grains to better understand how these materials are affected by heat and radiation in space.

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Artist impression of solar system formation.

Ashes of a Dying Star Hold Clues about Solar System's Birth

April 29, 2019

A dust grain forged in a stellar explosion predating our solar system reveals new insights about how stars end their lives and seed the universe with the building blocks of new stars and planets.

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Pierre Haenecour, the study's lead author, is pictured with one of the ultra-high-resolution electron microscopes used to obtain chemical and microstructural information about the stardust grain. (Photo: Maria Schuchardt/University of Arizona)

UA Planetary Scientist Wins Bid to Study Moon Samples

March 11, 2019

Incoming assistant professor Jessica Barnes will have the opportunity to study a previously unopened sample of a moon rock that was collected in the early 1970s during NASA's Apollo 17 mission.

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