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Vortex magnetic structure in framboidal magnetite reveals existence of water droplets in an ancient asteroid
Meteorite mineralogy can provide a window into the conditions of the early Solar System, including how and when water disappeared from asteroids. Kimura et al.use nanometre-scale palaeomagnetics to reveal vestigial traces of water in the Type 2 Tagish Lake meteorite and unravel its formation history.
- Yuki Kimura
- , Takeshi Sato
- & Kazuo Yamamoto
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Characterization of the LCROSS impact plume from a ground-based imaging detection
The 2009 LCROSS mission detected water in a debris plume ejected from the Moon’s southern pole, but poor viewing angles limited essential data regarding plume dynamics. Strycker et al. provide independent observations of the debris plume from Earth and ascertain much needed morphological information.
- Paul D. Strycker
- , Nancy J. Chanover
- & Michael Sussman
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Article
| Open AccessTime-calibrated Milankovitch cycles for the late Permian
The astronomical time scale is an essential geochronological tool, but is presently limited to the Cenozoic and Mesozoic eras. Here, Wuet al.time-calibrate Milankovitch cycles identified in strata from South China and extend this essential tool into the late Permian.
- Huaichun Wu
- , Shihong Zhang
- & Tianshui Yang
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Carbon precipitation from heavy hydrocarbon fluid in deep planetary interiors
Methane is a major constituent of planetary interiors, yet phase relations in the C–H system are poorly understood. This work documents the chemical reactivity of the C–H system over a wide range of temperatures and pressures, and sheds light on the chemical composition of Earth and icy giants.
- Sergey S. Lobanov
- , Pei-Nan Chen
- & Alexander F. Goncharov
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Discovery of seifertite in a shocked lunar meteorite
Few high-pressure polymorphs have been found from lunar meteorites even though the moon has experienced heavy meteorite bombardment. This study presents evidence of a high-pressure polymorph of silica—seifertite—from a lunar meteorite; a record of an intense planetary collision on the moon ~2.7 Ga ago.
- Masaaki Miyahara
- , Shohei Kaneko
- & Naohisa Hirao
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Dawn–dusk asymmetry in the Kelvin–Helmholtz instability at Mercury
Recently, the NASA MESSENGER mission reported signatures of Kelvin–Helmholtz instabilities in the magnetic environment of Mercury. Using global hybrid kinetic simulations, Paral and Rankin reproduce these observations, revealing a dawn–dusk asymmetry in the instability.
- Jan Paral
- & Robert Rankin
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Photochemical activity of Titan’s low-altitude condensed haze
The atmosphere of Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, consists of orange-yellow haze, but its formation and dynamics are not well understood. Here laboratory studies show that Titan’s lower atmosphere is photochemically active and the formation of complex prebiotic precursor molecules occurs at lower altitudes.
- Murthy S. Gudipati
- , Ronen Jacovi
- & Mark Allen
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The Tissint Martian meteorite as evidence for the largest impact excavation
High-pressure minerals in meteorites reflect the conditions prevailing when they were excavated and launched from their parent bodies. Tissint—a recent Martian meteorite—contains an unusual number of large high-pressure minerals, suggesting excavation from an impact of larger magnitude than for previous Martian samples.
- Ioannis P. Baziotis
- , Yang Liu
- & Lawrence A. Taylor
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Evidence for the late formation of hydrous asteroids from young meteoritic carbonates
Dating the age of meteorites can tell us when asteroids formed, but uncertainty remains in the Mn–Cr chronometry. This study presents a method for improving Mn/Cr determination and reports an age of 4,563.4 million years ago for carbonates in CM chondrites, which is younger than previous estimates.
- Wataru Fujiya
- , Naoji Sugiura
- & Yuji Sano
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Chemical processes in the deep interior of Uranus
The unusual magnetic fields of Uranus and Neptune are important considerations when developing hydrodynamic models of the planetary interiors. In this study, molecular dynamics simulations are used to study how chemical processes could create the interior structures predicted from the planets' magnetic fields.
- Ricky Chau
- , Sebastien Hamel
- & William J. Nellis
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Mixtures of planetary ices at extreme conditions
The interiors of outer solar planets are believed to contain water–methane mixtures that are subject to extreme pressures. Lee and Scandolo use molecular dynamics simulations to show that at high pressures there can be enhanced mixing and ionization, with consequences for the origin of the planetary magnetic field.
- Mal-Soon Lee
- & Sandro Scandolo
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Propagation of an Earth-directed coronal mass ejection in three dimensions
The physics governing the propagation of solar coronal mass ejections (CMEs), an important cause of bad space weather on Earth, is poorly understood. The authors model a CME's three-dimensional propagation and determine accurate arrival times near the Earth's surface.
- Jason P. Byrne
- , Shane A. Maloney
- & Peter T. Gallagher
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