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Pure iron grains are rare in the universe.


ABSTRACT: The abundant forms in which the major elements in the universe exist have been determined from numerous astronomical observations and meteoritic analyses. Iron (Fe) is an exception, in that only depletion of gaseous Fe has been detected in the interstellar medium, suggesting that Fe is condensed into a solid, possibly the astronomically invisible metal. To determine the primary form of Fe, we replicated the formation of Fe grains in gaseous ejecta of evolved stars by means of microgravity experiments. We found that the sticking probability for the formation of Fe grains is extremely small; only a few atoms will stick per hundred thousand collisions so that homogeneous nucleation of metallic Fe grains is highly ineffective, even in the Fe-rich ejecta of type Ia supernovae. This implies that most Fe is locked up as grains of Fe compounds or as impurities accreted onto other grains in the interstellar medium.

SUBMITTER: Kimura Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5242559 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Pure iron grains are rare in the universe.

Kimura Yuki Y   Tanaka Kyoko K KK   Nozawa Takaya T   Takeuchi Shinsuke S   Inatomi Yuko Y  

Science advances 20170118 1


The abundant forms in which the major elements in the universe exist have been determined from numerous astronomical observations and meteoritic analyses. Iron (Fe) is an exception, in that only depletion of gaseous Fe has been detected in the interstellar medium, suggesting that Fe is condensed into a solid, possibly the astronomically invisible metal. To determine the primary form of Fe, we replicated the formation of Fe grains in gaseous ejecta of evolved stars by means of microgravity experi  ...[more]

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